PCGA: PC game piracy is declining

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 18 February, 2011

"There are stats that corroborate that."

Just days after the PC version of high-profile shooter Crysis 2 was leaked onto the internet, forcing developer Crytek to issue a statement that said "piracy continues to damage the PC packaged goods market and the PC development community", one group has claimed PC game piracy is actually on the decline.

"What's really interesting [according to PCGA research,] is piracy was largely, historically rampant when you had an optical drive or a piece of physical media. And people would go and download the crack for it," Matt Ployhar, the new president of the PC Gaming Alliance, told Gamasutra.

"In some cases the crack was done days before the game ever even hit retail shelves. Now what's happening is piracy was so bad in other geographies - it's kind of bad everywhere but there are certain places where it spikes - that it was an equation of survival of the fittest.

"The only PC gaming business models that existed and continued to thrive and that could continue to live were MMOs. They do really well. You can still pirate them but they're an order of magnitude harder to pirate.

"And then there are free to play games. You can't really pirate free to play. You can but it doesn't make a lot of sense. So what's happening is game design is shifting and as a result of shifting game design, piracy, at least on the PC side, is actually declining as a result."

Following Crytek 2's leak online the game industry made its anti-piracy stance clear.

The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) told Eurogamer piracy "poses a very real threat to the UK's games industry".

But the PCGA claims it has statistics that show piracy is waning.

"There are stats that do corroborate that," Ployhar insisted. "I'm not saying that piracy is going to go away. It's fascinating to watch. For example, you get a game like Crysis that got hit hard by piracy. Now what you're seeing to combat that or reduce the chances of piracy are developers implementing achievements, in-game pets, all of these things that are tracked and stored in the cloud.

"So even if you pirate the game you're still not getting the bragging rights. You've got all these additional mechanisms where the value proposition of the game, where if you pirate it, it's just not going to be as fun."

Digital rights management is one method game publishers use to try to protect their games from piracy.

Many gamers, however, consider DRM to be restrictive and frustrating.

"There is an interesting thing going on where I've heard of people - I won't mention names - who one of the first things that they'll do is they'll go crack the retail copy that they bought and load it onto a drive," Ployhar continued. "And that way they can take it to any other PC that they've bought.

"And the driving factor there is, that they want the extra level of flexibility that comes along with that, when you don't need that disc spinning in your optical drive. But they still legitimately bought the game, right?

"But then, they're downloading this hack, which is going to light up in some of these forums, 'Oh, there are 50,000 downloads of XYZ crack.' And I'm like, 'Well, yeah, but some percentage of those are from people who legitimately bought the retail box for that, they just want the extra flexibility that you would get, almost as if it was digitally downloaded.' It's a weird perspective, but it happens."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ChthonicEcho #1 1 year ago

    Oh, boy, here we go.

  • X201 #2 1 year ago

    / hands ChthonicEcho a tin helmet

    "Get some cover boy"

    "COVER"

  • MiniAmin #3 1 year ago

    / pirates ChthonicEcho's tin helmet.

  • cianchristopher #4 1 year ago

    I dont' have a problem with DRM (yes, even the Ubisoft kind), to be honest. My problem is the eternal question of "what happens when the authentication servers go down"? If all PC games with DRM came with a clear promise to remove all traces of the DRM 6 months after the game's launch, then it'd be fine. (See Alpha Protocol for this - they said they'd patch out the Uniloc DRM within the first two years, and they did! (they even did it in the first six months, fair play to them)).

    Think about it, after a game is more than 6 months old, nobody pirates it anyway. And really, DRM isn't even designed to stop pirating. It's designed to stop sharing games amongst friends and selling the game on.

    I mean, ffs, Crysis on Steam still has SecuRom with 5 activations. And that game is more than 3 years old. Who the hell is gonna be pirating that in great numbers anymore? No one, that's who!

    I've emailed EA/Crytek, asking them to remove it. But, they can't be bothered. Maybe you can ask them Wesley? Next time you're talking to someone there?

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #5 1 year ago

    ""So even if you pirate the game you're still not getting the bragging rights. You've got all these additional mechanisms where the value proposition of the game, where if you pirate it, it's just not going to be as fun." "

    Not unlike the kind of mechanisms "hardcore" gamers bitch about against "casual" and social games.

  • StabbyStabStab #6 1 year ago

    Of course it's declining, there's not much worth pirating on the platform anymore.

  • arcam #7 1 year ago

    I still don't get what the Crysis 2 leak says about piracy.

    Did anyone think you can leak a hotly anticipated game 2 months early and people wouldn't download it?

  • Ryze #8 1 year ago

    ...because there are less high profile PC exclusives these days?

    Publishers and developers need to pay more attention to Steam's numbers, and disregard what's happening with torrents and piracy.

    This nonsense of canning or crippling PC versions of games due to torrenting HAS to stop. Piracy has been going on since the beginning of computer games, and in much greater proportions than today's torrents.

    The only difference nowadays, is that the idiot stat counter tards now have a load of numbers to harvest and print. It's all psychological.

    Have a think - how much piracy took place on the following platforms:

    Spectrum/Amstrad/C64/BBC - Cassette piracy, crack/trainers, cassette > floppy dumps
    Amiga/ST - Floppy disk piracy, BBS downloads
    Mega Drive/SNES - Floppy disk adaptors
    Playstation/PS2 - CD-R copies

    Now - there aren't any solid numbers for the amount of copied games sold or played on the above formats, due to there being no torrent sites tracking each download.

    CAN YOU IMAGINE the numbers, especially for the Amiga, BBC and ZX Spectrum? If these numbers were ever released mid-cycle back in the 80s, they'd be MUCH more shocking than current piracy figures. Yet the Amiga and Spectrum are massive success stories.

    The same goes for 90s PC gaming - if I was never introduced to Doom and Quake via piracy, I'd have never bought Half-life and Unreal Tournament, plus a slew of other PC games as soon as I bought a PC and was working in the late 90s.

    Piracy is in SOME cases PROMOTION for titles, and publishers need to bear this in mind. MOST games get little to NO exposure that would allow a potential customer to check if they would enjoy a game prior to buying it.

    Maybe the industry is REALLY lacking the ability to SAMPLE MORE GAMES, in the same way that many people used to use Napster upon launch. Address this, and grow your paying audience.

    The casual flash games sites seem to have the right idea. Make something as immediate as those, but with the option to buy the full game and play without the fuss or the nonsense. Paying per level is also another useful concept on the PC.

  • Markusdragon #9 1 year ago

    It should also be noted that whilst the big-budget titans have serious problems from piracy, even higher levels of piracy barely make a dent in the coffers of the bedroom coded indie stuff, often serving instead as a decent marketing tool. Perhaps the future... nay, the PRESENT of PC gaming is lower budgets and more love in every title.

    And cheaper prices. Cheaper prices REALLY helps.

  • ic4ruz #10 1 year ago

    Why does the writer try to disaprove Ployhers statement ?

    That's pretty unprofessional of the writer.

  • asharkman #11 1 year ago

    Stabbystabstab got it in one.
    PC market is dead.
    Long live the console.

  • subedii #12 1 year ago

    If it's dead, then how come I bought so many PC games last year?

    :/

  • infernox1 #13 1 year ago

    im guessing piracy rockets down when the steam sales are on.

  • Zephro #14 1 year ago

    The publishers should just ditch retail media permanently on PC, or at least force it to need Steam/Other DRM types are available, along with Steam achievements etc. Yes I know Steam games get pirated as well, but one thing going digital only would do is reduce the lead times on publishing games so less time for things to get leaked.

    I'm sure that'd be a great help even if there would be an initial hump of unpleasant whining.

  • subedii #15 1 year ago

    It's a key point that needs to be made and that's often largely ignored. The advent of Steam and DD in general did something pretty incredible: It made being a legitimate owner more convenient than trying to pirate the game.

    When that happened, a massive chunk of the battle that everyone else is waging with things like UbiDRM was already won.
    Edited by subedii at 18/02/11 @ 16:48

  • bad09 #16 1 year ago

    "But the PCGA claims it has statistics that show piracy is waning"

    Steam sales say "your welcome"

    If it's declining lets lose the sillier DRMs M'kay?

  • dagas #17 1 year ago

    People don't dislike DRM they dislike bad DRM. Steam has DRM the 360 has DRM, but they both manage to keep it out of sight. For the people who buy the games it's basically invisible and that's the way it should be. Only the pirates should have to notice DRM. If you as a legitimate buyer notice DRM, someone has done something wrong.

  • Darren #18 1 year ago

    I buy almost all of my PC games on disc but I confess that I do also download NoDVD cracks too to avoid having to leave the disc in the drive (and, thus, swapping them between games). I'm glad that people like Matt Ployhar have enough commonsense to realise that downloading a crack doesn't mean you've obtained the game illegally.

  • DrStrangelove #19 1 year ago

    I had the impression that with the Steam system things were going rather well.

  • Harmonica #20 1 year ago

    Walk the plank, all of ye.

  • BorkWork #21 1 year ago

    @Darren
    Same here. I own Mass Effect 2 with every DLC there is, but still I use a cracked exe so my disc don't get scratched.

  • uknortherner2000 #22 1 year ago

    @bad09: "If it's declining lets lose the sillier DRMs M'kay?"

    Piracy is merely a smokescreen for these publishers though, otherwise they would be bitching about Xbox 360 piracy levels just as much as the PC's. Gone are the days when you bought a game and that was it. Now, the publisher feels entitled to retain full control over what you do even after you've bought that title, be it through always-on internet connections, installation limits, DLC "phoning home" every time you play. Anything they can possibly do to kill off second-hand sales, and keep the legitimate gamer firmly in their grip.

  • Xardan #23 1 year ago

    As it has become more and more obvious that piracy is an issue certain interested parties have started to take action. It would seem they are making some headway. But they will never fully eradicate the issue.
    Edited by Xardan at 18/02/11 @ 17:52

  • bad09 #24 1 year ago

    @uknortherner2000

    Absolutely. I firmly believe DRM is actually about controlling the customer not stopping the pirate, but if they came out and said it instead of using an "evil" that "threatens" the very games they love people would go nuts.

    Personal details for free marketing of their next game, stopping you lending to your mate, stopping you sell it on when done, stopping you using one copy per household, stopping you modding when you could be buying DLC. Watching how you play the game (no joke, Uniloc actually does this according to their site).

    DRM does so many things...except stop the very thing it claims to be fighting....

  • brod #25 1 year ago

    "For example, you get a game like Crysis that got hit hard by piracy. Now what you're seeing to combat that or reduce the chances of piracy are developers implementing achievements, in-game pets, all of these things that are tracked and stored in the cloud."

    What is this guy on about? Crysis 2 does not feature Steamworks so it cannot do these things.

    EA are stuck in the past when it comes to DRM / online feature sets.

  • CptSupermarket #26 1 year ago

    I hate DRM and will happily refuse to buy any game that has anything above the least of drm. I urge you all to preorde The Witcher 2 on gog.com. drm free and lets show with pre orders and sales what we want as customers!

  • azix2 #27 1 year ago

    I've downloaded a pirate copy of a game I bought about 3-4 times already. LOL. Firstly steam was lame for speeds, then I needed the most recent version thatincluded all patches, then some other bs. Bet they counter all those downloads as bad. I've also pirated all the games I bought, some more than once.

  • K-Project #28 1 year ago

    All my PC games are bought and paid for on disc, but I always, always get the NoDVD crack. I just don't want to have to keep putting the disc in to play, but then I still prefer to own the physical media. Meh, go figure. :)

  • z8Jay #29 1 year ago

    Stop releasing shitty console ports and we might be more inclined to pay for pc games

  • bad09 #30 1 year ago

    Oh, seeing as we are talking DRM can I just rant (I know I don't do that much). I'm moving tomorrow and and I 'ain't got internet for a week or so as we sort things out. today I am making sure games, games I already bought with my money and installed and activated, are up to date. Switching to offline mode on Steam so I can game (I need permission to use MY games offline).

    My (wonderful) Mrs bought me Dead Space 2 today and I'm loading it to make sure it's activated for next week offline and it's asking for my account, sweating I can't play next week I log in, quit, unplug my ethernet, load game, log in, sweat while it logs in, get told I can't use rip off DLC shit but can luckily play the game.

    I SHOULD NOT HAVE FUCKING DO THAT JUST TO PLAY A FUCKING VIDEO GAME OFFLINE YOU FUCKING CUNTS! HOW THE FUCK WILL YOU BEAT PIRACY WHEN YOU MAKE PEOPLE WHO STUPIDLY GIVE YOU THEIR FUCKING MONEY HAVE TO JUMP THOUGH STUPID FUCKING HOOPS LIKE THAT JUST TO PLAY A FUCKING VIDEO GAME! STOP IT NOW!

    *cough* sorry, had a few this evening...babies with the in laws..

    / waits for the big telly, Dead Space 2 and pizza

  • Chufty #31 1 year ago

    PC piracy is declining because the market has already been destroyed by piracy. There are no good PC exclusives any more, and PC ports of console games are usually crap.

    I concede that Steam has helped the figures too, but the PC gaming market is nothing like what it used to be.

  • c_gill2004 #32 1 year ago

    Starcraft 2 is a good example of how a game should work, you can download a trial version, play for x amount of hours with access to all content... Then u need to buy the game to continue.

    In my area xbox piracy is far more rampant than pc piracy mainly due to the fact that they're sold and traded far easier, one uve enabled piracy on 360 all u need to do is get a disk, no installing or cracking. Pc piracy is on the decline and console piracy is on it's way up

  • subedii #33 1 year ago

    There are no good PC exclusives any more, and PC ports of console games are usually crap.

    - Shogun 2: Total War
    - Diablo 3
    - The Witcher 2
    - DOTA 2
    - Dawn of War 2: Retribution
    - Torchlight 2
    - Grey Matter
    - Men of War: Assault Squad
    - Red Orchestra 2

    Those are all PC exclusives, coming this year alone and excluding stuff that came out previously. And that's largely off the top of my head. There are loads of others I'm interested in but they're from the more low key indie affairs (like Anomaly: Warzone Earth or Gemini Rue).

    That list is also leaving aside multiplatform titles. Suffice it to say I disagree with your assertion that they're all crap as well. The quality of PC versions of multiplatform titles has only been improving over the past few years. Companies like Capcom know how to push out really solid ports for example. Even small teams Uber Entertainment manage it now, not only delivering a solid port of their games, but doing so with PC exclusive features and tie-ins (like the TF2 tie-in). Even games that you wouldn't expect. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Dead Space 2, Bioshock... I mean I could keep listing them but what would be the point? I know one of my most anticipated games this year is probably Batman: Arkahm City, and given that the first game was a well done port (and even had some nice PhysX extras, particularly in the Scarecrow levels), I don't see why I'm suddenly supposed to cast aside the sequel.

    I'm also leaving out clearly PC led titles like Portal 2 (or pretty much any Valve game) or Battlefield 3. Both also coming out this year.

    And leaving out MMO's like the Upcoming Star Wars: Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, and Rift.

    For a market that everyone's trying so hard to say has been "destroyed", I'm having an awfully hard time budgeting my money for the coming months.
    Edited by subedii at 18/02/11 @ 20:24

  • hulahoops #34 1 year ago

    Unfortunately that contravenes the "if you have to invoke MS Flight your argument is invalid" clause. :(

  • subedii #35 1 year ago

    Unfortunately that contravenes the "if you have to invoke MS Flight your argument is invalid" clause. :(

    I don't see why, but if you're that angry at flight sims (or whatever), I guess I could replace it with Red Orchestra 2, which I'm expecting to be pretty awesome.

  • K-Project #36 1 year ago

    @redbarony:

    Yet another European who speaks like an American.

    Oh fuck off. That European enough for you?

    Silly bastard.

    Edited by K-Project at 18/02/11 @ 21:22

  • dsmx #37 1 year ago

    And I think all the credit for that decline would have to go to valve with the simple superb game distribution service that is steam.

  • spiny #38 1 year ago

    Well, he's right. I used to crack retail games I'd bought right from the off as I hate faffing about with disc checks.

    Of course now with Steam I don't have to bother so haven't done that in ages.

    Mind you, I'll still go in & delete video\ nvida.bik, publisher.bik & developer.bik to make games start faster :)

  • Neil__ #39 1 year ago

    @asharkman
    "Stabbystabstab got it in one.
    PC market is dead.
    Long live the console. "

    What's wrong with some fanboys that they seem to actually enjoy the possibility of their fellow gamers losing their platform of choice.
    The spite and vindictiveness some show to other gamers sickens me.
    Edited by Neil__ at 19/02/11 @ 02:39

  • Rack #40 1 year ago

    I'm a reluctant PC gamer, DRM, fiddling about with installs, Vista, upgrading every couple of years because devs are too lazy to make this years games run half as well as last years. And yet I want Guild Wars 2, I want Diablo III, I want Dawn of War Retribution. So if the PC did die I'd have enough reason to personally rejoice because those games would finally move somewhere where I don't need to worry about these things.

  • IneptPercy #41 1 year ago

    Good point about the download of patches, I have patched my own purchased games before now.

    With that I am a patient gamer and only pay what I believe a game is worth which has lead to me getting many in the steam sales (never buy on steam at full price).

    Personally I thing PC gaming has got a lot better than it was many years ago and generally things just work.

  • DrMGinius #42 1 year ago

    In League of Legends you get to pay for additional character models (or textures), but you can pirate them. As of other MMOs, yes, they are not really pirated. WoW, for example, has "private" servers, but they don't have nearly as many players, obviously, and are full of bugs or 50% of the game is simply missing - sometimes you can't do the quest, sometimes its not even there, or, in extreme cases, your PC catches fire when you try to acces the area.

    So basically anything that is constantly conected to the internet is hard to pirate. Now all you need are games constantly connected to the internet. People will love that. Totally.
    Edited by DrMGinius at 19/02/11 @ 14:59

  • Zaiz #43 1 year ago

    @rack

    Have not had to upgrade my laptop, and my old desktop can still play modern games.

    @DrM

    That's untrue about LoL - Riot put that feature in so people could custom skin champions, but it can be used for piracy but they really don't care, since the point behind skins is to show off - and "pirated" skins only appear for you. Riot could also easily stop people from "pirating" the skins, but they are all readily available in their own files.

  • paketep #44 1 year ago

    So, Ployhar is another inept idiot. Par for the course in the PCGA.

    That didn't take long, Matt.