Relic: leaks won't stop us loving PC

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 14 July, 2011

"Some just want PC to go away."

Dawn of War and Space Marine developer Relic Entertainment will continue to invest in PC game development despite the recent spate of high-profile video game leaks.

But the Canadian studio has admitted PC piracy "is always a concern".

"It's always a concern as a company, but it's not one which is driving the decision to make PC," Relic marketing manager James McDermott told Eurogamer.

"For us, the drive to make PC is, really big, established, DOW community, they're PC gamers, there's probably going to be crossover to Space Marine. It felt like it made sense to make a Space Marine game for PC."

Square Enix is currently in the process of suing a group of Italians it believes were responsible for the leak of upcoming sci-fi action role-playing game Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The Japanese company reckons the game was obtained through a Steam press account normally reserved for game journalists.

It was the latest in a string of leaks this year that have caused some to question the viability of creating PC versions of multi-platform games.

Relic is right now discussing how to handle the process of allowing game journalists early access to Space Marine.

"One of the things that's come up is the concern about the PC and the protection for it, because it doesn't have any major protection," McDermott continued.

"It's obviously going to have the keys and stuff for when it launches, but the actual code base, you could rip out the executable and stuff like that.

"It's just ensuring everyone is trusted partners. The conversation's just started on that. On PC, with that, there's always going to be that challenge."

If Space Marine was leaked, "It would definitely be soul destroying," McDermott said.

Relic has seen impressive results on PC, and expects its success on the platform to continue with the multi-platform Space Marine.

"THQ has quite good traction with PC sales," McDermott revealed. "Steam numbers continue to be really good for us.

"Relic have been into PC games for a long time. We're still seeing a lot of good numbers can come from that market. We still think it's viable.

"We've already seen pre-orders are pretty high for PC on Steam.

McDermott said Relic remains unconcerned by the apparent doom and gloom around PC gaming, calling the PC a "great platform".

"Some people just think it would be easier if PC went away. I just get that sense sometimes. It's because PC is such a tailored market in terms of the kind of platform you have to have. The barrier to entry is a lot higher than just, go and buy a console.

"It just seems like there's more complexity to it, which is probably somewhat true. But it is a great platform. For first-person shooters, that's still where I want to play."

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 (18) Latest comment 9 months ago

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

  • oceanclub #1 11 months ago

    Obviously the leaks are awful, but they happen on console too. Besides, it was a very early leak of Deus Ex HR leaked with art missing, and if anything it's made people _more_ excited about the finished game. The very few people who I've read downloaded it are now dying for the final product. So let's not get hysterical about this.

    P.
    Edited by oceanclub at 14/07/11 @ 17:40

  • Seehuusen #2 11 months ago

    I love you Relic, keep up the good work

  • bad09 #3 11 months ago

    Wait leaks happen on consoles to (hello Gears 3) and as far as I'm aware most multiplatform games are normally available for download for consoles FIRST. Half finished leaks like Crysis 2 and Deus Ex are not gonna dent sales either, and probably intended marketing truth be told, these people aren't stupid.
    Edited by bad09 at 14/07/11 @ 17:20

  • retr0gamer #4 11 months ago

    Dear publishers: Stop giving out games and prerelease content to any muppet with a shitty blog and you'll stop this nonsense. I know plenty of people that have started blogs and sites, and really poor ones at that, just for the free games.

  • Makeem95 #5 11 months ago

    I would've thought if they tightened up security, they can prevent these leaks from happening.
    The way they talk about "why bother developing for the PC" makes me as an avid PC gamer, feel somewhat responsible for these leaks. If they really did stop developing for the PC, I can just imagine them saying to us "you've only got yourselves to blame!"

    Going off on a tangent, how effective is Steam at preventing piracy? Steam is the one and only form of DRM I am prepared to put up with and if it is effective at stamping at piracy, then these publishers should stop whining about piracy and just publish on Steam.

  • arcam #6 11 months ago

    Going off on a tangent, how effective is Steam at preventing piracy?

    Not very. It is pretty good at preventing early leaks, and these days the console version normally shows up on torrent sites before the PC version, but it's obviously not foolproof as they suspect a press Steam account as the source of the Deus Ex leak.

    It's clear though that stopping leaks is easier when your game is only in the hands of a few writers rather than the thousands of people involved in the distribution and retail of discs.

  • Khosrau #7 10 months ago

    RELIC you're the best.

    Glad to see my favorite developer keeping a PC focus.

    Now bring us Company of Heroes 2! Or Homeworld 3! Or Dawn of War 3! take my money already!

  • KDR_11k #8 10 months ago

    The important part aren't the pirates, it's the people who DO pay for the game. Some companies get so lost in their struggle to fight piracy that the legitimate buyers suffer.

    I'll continue buying PC games simply because they're cheaper than console games. WH40k Kill Team doesn't seem to have a PC version though and adds some extra weapon to Space Marine if you get both on the same system, I wonder if that weapon will be given to PC gamers who have DoW2.

    Khosrau: They already announced DoW3 as the next RTS.

  • Davemanz #9 10 months ago

    @KDR_11k:
    They announced DoWIII last year. They hinted at an all-new announcement this August, which presumably would not be DoWIII. They're a big enough studio to have more than one game in development at once, so it's not inconceivable that it'd be CoH3 or HW3.

  • CaptainKid #10 10 months ago

    Holy shit Deus ex is leaked?!!
    Thanks for the heads up!

    Torrent is running as we speak.

  • bf #11 10 months ago

    Stop fuzzing about PC this and PC that. If you have a good idea and even a dedicated group of consumers following a series then just make good games and watch the money roll in.

  • CaptainKid #12 10 months ago

    @bf
    Yep.
    And no bullshit like copy protection or forced Windows Live, EA store crap.

  • Laythe_AD #13 10 months ago

    Relic need to get off their arses and make Homeworld 3. Dawn of War 3 can kiss my arse. I've already had two of those since the last Homeworld.

  • Faramis #14 10 months ago

    I myself don't get all this "piracy hurts industry by preventing games to be sold" stuff. If there was no possibility to pirate games, would people who don't have money to buy those overpriced new games be able to buy them or even do so happily? I don't think so. The sales would not skyrocket as those developers imagine. If there was no piracy, then probably people would buy used games for cheaper price. And devs would lose again, because they don't get any money for used games.

  • Lord_BeeJee #15 10 months ago

    Go Relic!

  • georgemoshington #16 10 months ago

    I'm surprised Relic gave anyone beating the outmoded "PC is a den of low sales and pirate infamy" drum the time of their busy, crunch laden day. I guess when you've got a big release coming up, any PR is good PR, even if just to beat back hack journalists who still subscribe to a four year old status quo. The PC digital market is growing every day - granting opportunities for games of all scopes and budgets. It's the stagnant console go-AAA-or-go-home model that is seeing YoY decline; leading to the slow death of console gaming's AA middle class.

    I enjoyed visiting your cited source for the "question the viability of creating PC versions of multi-platform game" quote. His most recent article is about the Gears of War leak, a console exclusive, and any questioning the viability of the platform was notable by its absence.
    Edited by georgemoshington at 16/07/11 @ 14:49

  • minahina #17 10 months ago

    Agreed that piracy isn't any worse than in consoles. All this "PC is a waste of money" thing really does piss me off. Already EA stopped making most sport games for PC. And if I remember correctly, Microsoft themselves said "Piracy actually helps us promote the games. So we do owe it some".

    PC is one of the best plataforms, if not the best. So with amazing sales, I don't really see what developers whine about. Consoles have more sales because there's a load of people neglecting the PC and bashing it without even trying it and instead going to play their little 360's.

  • Jorendo #18 9 months ago

    Its funny how the game industry turns a blind eye to the console pirates and leaks. Its always "pc pirates destroy the game industry, leaks make it imposible blabla" while the xbox is easy to crack with just one chip. And there is a black market live for xbox..meaning all xbox pirates can play their games online with each other on the black market xbox live. And the PS2, it was just a mather of inserting a chip and download your games, burn on dvd and tadaa you had your games. But the game industry just wants to earn more for consoles cause the game prices are more expensive, must be the reason why they flame the pc so much.