News UK trade group says piracy not a big issue

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/11/11/uk-trade-group-says-piracy-not-a-big-issue/1

TIGA, the UK's videogame trade association, has polled members on attitudes to piracy.

 

It's been obvious for a long time now that the only reason they're complaining about piracy is out of greed.

They're seeing the figures and associating a monetary figure to it.

If they want people to buy their games, then make better games and price them better (I'm looking at you MW2).

If piracy was impossible, I'd still bet that sales figures would remain similar to what they currently are now.

 

Money is not that elastic...

 

It'll be interesting to see how much coverage this story gets in the mainstream press. My guess would be around no coverage, but we'll see.

 

Yeah, greed, because in an age where triple-A products have to sell at least a million or two copies to be successful, sales just don't matter.

 

If the market isn't there to sell a million or two copies of a product, triple-A or not, then you're simply not going to sell a million or two copies. It would be interesting to know what impact piracy genuinely has on sales of such products, but I won't hold my breath for any honest assessment.

 

hey
i say something like this.
piracy makes some games popular than ever..
then sequel to that game may be known by so many. and they will look forward for its appearance .
so it will be a most anticipated game for so many ppl..so sales also rise.
consider a cod game like modern warfare .how much pirated copies r there for cod game?
i say millions.
so it is well known game.so sequel to that will also be sold because of the pirated original ..fist game they get a pirated copy..second game they might get a legal copy..that also can happen....

 

I think piracy is an issue, and nothing infuriates me more than the attitude of pirate; but I can see their point about over-priced and shoddy products. However, that is no excuse, vote with your wallet, not by breaking the law.

On the other hand, piracy is used too often as a scapegoat for poor sales by publishers (and occasionally developers). It is good that TIGA is speaking out against this poor excuse. Developers, should stop complaining and make better games, rather than wasting their time complaining about pirates.

 

I'm sure we could stick the queens head on some large rubber bands.

 

People who pirated the first game will likely pirate the second game too. And hardly any pirate will buy a legal copy once they have a pirated one, to think they will is naive.

Agreed.

 

I have to disagree smiffy.. noticed some people do feel guilty (or like) and purchase the product after downloading it.. then you have the letters sent out to cease downloading movies/music.. that can be enough to push people onto the legal side

people who pirate everything probably wouldn't buy anyways.. think that's what they are realizing

 

To me, pirating games is all "try before you buy", which to me is perfectly fine.

 

I literally would have bought MW2 on Steam today... IF it was under £30.
Unfortunatly, It wasn't... So I have to steal it.

I think Steam's data regarding numbers of copies sold during their discount periods goes to show, if developers want to stunt piracy, price your games better, and make better games. Then.... Utilize platforms like steam.

 

Waiting a little until either a) you have more money to buy it or b) the price is reduced, is so far beyond any reasonable steps to take that you have to pirate it?

 

No... I still may buy it when I have the dough. But I would have never taken the step to do so had it been cheaper at launch, and had not been potentially gimped on the PC.

 

that's because pirates dont buy games. people who pirate games never intend to or cant afford to buy games. i think only a very small number of people will use piracy as try-before-you-buy kind of thing

 

i downloaded dragon age, played it, was impressed so I bought it although i still think its a bit galling to expect people to pay for dlc literally upon release.

i will probably download MW2, but i know im never going to buy that. their attitude to the pc version made that decision for me a while back.

 

I don't like what IW have done of late but thats still not an excuse to steal their work.

 

Cool, just as well that it's not theft then isn't it?

 

For once I am going to chip in on the issue.

Although I do download software (Not just games), it is on a "trial" basis. If the software has a *fully functional* time demo, then I get that. If it doesn't, I get a Pirated version. In *all* cases, if the software has been of use to me (Or I like the game), then I buy it. If not, It doesn't stay installed. I have no time or inclination to keep half-baked software on my PC, let alone pay for it.

Recent purchases influenced by Pirated software include CS4 (Yes, I paid full retail, albeit at the upgrae price, as I owned CS2 beforehand, and That was bought off the back of a pirated version too). Gameswise, I don't play much, but Bejewled for the missus, a few of the NFS series for me. All "trialled" with Pirated downloads. As a rough estimate, in the last 5 years (The time I have had access to a connection that actually let's me download anything), I would say that I have shelled out about 5K that I would NOT have parted with otherwise).

So, anyone saying that people who download pirated software don't buy it afterwards, can GTFO and stop using Carte Blanche statements. I know a lot of friends that work this way too.

Yes, it is that simple.