id Software CEO: piracy pushed us multiplatform
At an early session Friday, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead gave a lecture on the problems of piracy on the internet. During his speech, Hollenshead revealed that, although they are still primarily a PC developer, id Software had begun to look at console game releases as a way to financially combat piracy."Piracy has pushed id as being multiplatform," Hollenshead said, noting that the current project Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is being scheduled for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hollenshead's rationale is that console piracy is, by a large factor, minimal relative to the rampant PC piracy.
In Hollenshead's lecture, entitled "The Videogame Piracy Problem: Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest," was a discussion on the problems of piracy, his company's experiences with the issues, and suggestions to help the diffuse the issue.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
mushiking @ Mar 10th 2007 5:25PM
Epic said the same thing:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46079
Badger @ Mar 10th 2007 9:56PM
>Well at least they aren't suing gamers
>the same way the RIAA is suing music lovers
Oh you just wait. They'll figure out a way.
The REviewer @ Mar 10th 2007 11:42PM
Ever since I played Counter-Strike 1.3 i've wanted developers to focus less on graphics and more on competative gameplay. Sure I bought Doom 3 and Quake 4 and was utterly pissed that the gameplay sucked ass.
As of right now i'm still playing Counter-Strike 1.6 on steam because it is by far the best game i've played gameplay wise. I won't even think to start playing counter-strike source because the gameplay is just pure terribad.
Now a lot of you may be thinking that I am not going to get new games and I still play CS 1.6 because my computer sucks. Well I can max out the detail on Quake 4, F.E.A.R. (which has free multiplayer) and even Oblivion (which I bought too) than I don't know what kind of computer is good.
In order for companies to get me to buy their new games they must be gameplay focused. I don't give a shit if the graphics look 5 years old, as long as its something new and something competative. I was able to Beta test S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and just from the beta I will be buying that game. Also I will never buy another game from EA because of the spyware that gets installed with BF 2142.
On another note, there have been a few games that I have pirated just because I had no way of finding out what the game was like because of lack of a playable demo. I actually had to pirate oblivion before I decided that it was a game worth purchasing.
one last thing to add about console game these days. I will not play any games that feature an auto regen health system. that goes for Halo 2, Gears of War and Call of Duty 2. That is by far the WORST decision ever made and I refuse to give into that.
gamingfor30years @ Mar 11th 2007 1:51AM
To whom ever said PC game sales have not gone down...but just slowed???
Just google "PC game sales" and you get lots of links to the NPD numbers...
US PC Game Software Sales
1998 - $1.7 billion
1999 - $1.9 billion
2000 - $1.78 billion (84.9 million units)
2001 - $1.75 billion (83.6 million units)
2002 - $1.4 billion (61.5 million units)
2003 - $1.2 billion (52.8 million units)
2004 - $1.1 billion (45 million units)
2005 - $953 million (38 million) + $344 million digital sales
2006 - $970 million
Hey it went up in 2006. All video games sales for 2006 was just over 13 billion, PC games sales had 970 million and consoles of all types had over 12billion.
The PC will never die but it has lost so much market share when it comes to games. Developers for so many reasons.....
Piracy
Locked Platform (OS/Hardware)
Time to develop (Locked platform)
Less post sales support (Locked platform)
Way more code reuse.
Think about it they get more money for each game (piracy and the cost is higher per game 360/PS3) and it cost less to develop and support (Locked Platform)
Imagine the test lab setup for Quake Wars on the PC....a dozen or more PC's with testers to test all of the different Hardwar/OS options.
No imange Quake Wars test lab for the 360....1 360 if you want....2-4 to speed up testing.
t_m @ Mar 11th 2007 8:46AM
Garbage.
Its not really any more difficult to get pirate games for xbox, playstation (1 or 2), DS, gba or PSP than it is for PC. Sure you might have to buy an extra cart or mod chip.. but they aren't much more than the cost of a single game.
GO onany of the bittorrent sites and there are just as many xbox and ps2 games for download as PC. Not sure if the 360 or the PS3 is up there yet.. but it can't be long.
PC game sales have nosedived.. but it isn't because of piracy. It's because:
(a) Microsoft has been concentrating on building the xbox brand.. and moved a lot of PC gamers over to the pc-like console. They've let PC games flounder.. even they admit it.
(b) The insane price of graphics cards. I used to play so many PC games.. now i hardly play at all.. and the ones I do play are hardly cuttig edge. Its just too expensive to keep up to date with the new tech needed. I splashed out on a new graphics card for doom3 and was totally unimpressed btw.
(c) Gamers are growing up. They now dont have the time to play in-depth PC games.. they are much more likely to be able to fit in a 10 minute console session into their schedules.
(d) Gamers are diversifying. The audience of gamers used to be pretty small.. and mostly teenageboys. Now its much more diverse.. but PC games are still mostly in the hardcore area. (NOTE: Sales of PC "casual games" are flourishing... surely they are just as easy to pirate.. if not more so because they are 100th of the size.)
(e) The WoW Effect. WoW (and other MMORPGs) have absorbed such a huge portion of the PC gamer base that many have almost stopped playing other games. Previous massive hits would come and go, with gamers moving on.. now they are spending their monthly dollars on subscriptions, not new games.
(f) Second hand market. I can pick up pretty new PC games for £1 or £2.. that makes it LESS hassle than trying to download a 3gb game copy. Going on ebay, or into any games store, I can stock up on 30 one-year-old games for the price of a copy of a new game. (plus by then i know which are worth buying).
Also note:
- The vast majority of people who download pirate material (games, movies, software, whatever) would never have paid to buy it anyway.. soyou can't equate the number of downloads with a number of lost sales.
- Most downloaders are kids or students with very little money... so they are unlikely to suddenly start spending a fortune if they can't get free copies.
- Large numbers of downloaders later go on to become customers. Sure they download loads of free games when at uni.. but once they have jobs and more disposable income they will start buying games. (but probably on consoles.. see point c)
- Its generally been shown that those who download the most movies and music ALSO BUY THE MOST movies and music. This might well hold true for games as well.
- Many people who download become compulsive hoarders.. they download WAY more than they can ever WATCH/PLAY. So again, each download doesn't equal a lost sale.
I've been known to download the odd game or movie, especially when i was a student. Now i have money i tend to buy them. Infact I've bought so many DVDs and Games that it would take me a year just to watch/play them all. Not that that stops me continuing to buy (and occasionally download). How that translates into lost sales is beyond me..
h0mi @ Mar 11th 2007 4:04PM
Piracy helped make the PC what it is today, and helped iD. Strange that now they cry that pc piracy is hurting them. I dare say that due to serial checks that (mostly) prevent people from playing games online, piracy of PC games is less widespread than it used to be.
dusty @ Mar 12th 2007 5:14AM
i am not going to pretend i know a lot about anything, but my two cents is that if ID would release a sequel to RTCW: Enemy Territory, instead of Quake Wars (or both), then there wouldn't be such hatred against ID as I have seen in these comments.
also, come on kids...
you all say that id hasn't made any 'good' games, an irrelevant and relative term, but the only reason any of you are talking trash on this topic is because YOU ARE pirates.
you defend yourselves, your reasoning, and your "l33t haxxor skillz" but you are nothing but a bunch of bums. work, buy, sell...be an american. i am not sure what is so complicated about that concept.
"there is no such thing as a free lunch."
oh, one other thing, consumerism shows no brand loyalty.
John Smith @ Mar 12th 2007 5:46PM
Piracy is a problem. It's a ruined vacation in the Bahamas whiles we sail fishing. Our boat was sunk and left us on a dingy getting sunburned for three days and five nights. We lost a dear friend who became so hungry he tried to kill a dolphin with his bare hands that swam around the dingy chirping like a happy bird. It turns out it was a white shark. Damn pirates I hope they all burn in Hell.
Tecknomage @ Mar 14th 2007 6:17PM
"Hollenshead's rationale is that console piracy is, by a large factor, minimal relative to the rampant PC piracy."
Is really missing the point. Games get pirated when they are popular. The platform really does not matter. The professional pirate will find a way to do-his-thing for a popular game no matter what the platform. All you need is to walk the allies of Hong Kong and you'll not only find pirated music, PC games, but also XBox, et el.