EA admits pirated copies do not equal lost sales

[Hard core Rikki]

EA Admits Pirated Copies Do Not Equal Lost Sales - Changing positions - Softpedia

Electronic Arts says that it understands how an illegally downloaded copy is not, in any way, a copy that was lost as a sale to the company. Mariam Sughayer, who is working for the corporate communications
department of EA, says that “Stepping aside from the whole issue of DRM, people need to recognize that every BitTorrent download doesn’t represent a successful copy of a game, let alone a lost sale”. Understanding this, the company is getting ready to shift its approach so that it rewards the customer rather than punishing everyone for the sins of pirates.

At launch, Spore had a three installation limit and also a limit of only one account per game copy owned. If you wanted more installs, you had to call Electronic Arts and if you wished more accounts, you had to buy more copies of the game.

Gamers launched a backlash, which included Amazon one star reviews and anti-DRM creatures on Sporepedia. On the one hand, Electronic Arts resorted to the usual hard line, going so far as threatening to ban people talking about DRM on their forums, but on the other hand, the company understood that most of the complaints were pretty much founded, so they recently announced that the installation limit would be raised while an iTunes like “activation” mechanics would be added. They also said that the very next patch would include a feature which allows for more screen names per game copy.

Expect Electronic Arts to emphasize the social and downloadable aspect of the game in order to fight piracy. Pirated copies cannot access the Sporepedia and cannot get creatures from other people in their games. So, if EA manages to select content and emphasize this aspect of the game, it will encourage more people to get the game in order to access this aspect of Spore.

EA looking to go the Battle.net way ?

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[IamWhatIam]

They have to do this. Imagine yourself, if you make a kick a** game and someone takes it, puts his name on it and sells it as his own. How would that feel. Sure the end user plays the game fine but gives the credit to the pirate and not the actual creator.
Not to mention all the losses the company suffers because of piracy. Every new game that gets officially released comes to torrents the very day. If people continue to download games and stop buying then eventually companies would stop making games. This is a good move by EA.

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Originally Posted by PsyMan

I personally find the way some members react when things do not go as they wish pathetic.

You can always add a member in your ignore list, report his posts, request a ban, but making a new thread/post announcing that you're leaving just because of this member... it is pathetic.

Not worth to give a damn. So long, goodbye, don't let the door hit your back on your way out.

[Hard core Rikki]

you make a kick a** game and someone takes it, puts his name on it and sells it as his own

Thats "professional" piracy (deliberately engineered cashing on on the back of retaillers), which is very objectable and noone defends anyway. Early purchasers deserve to fork extra for the "honor" of getting it as soon as its out (the same way preorders work). As long as price cuts happen early enough, revenue stream will keep steady. DRM is supposed only to protect for the first few days of retailing anyway (publishers really claim theyre happy with that kind of unreliable protection, as long as the revenue stream for the first days/weeks is protected to some extent)

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[TheCloudOfSmoke]

I'll be the only honest one here. Back in my youth years of pirating and such, I had the money to buy some games, and I would have on certain occasions if I didn't find a keygen or crack. Let me reiterate though, it was in my youth years. There are many other people like that. In a lot of cases (not all), sales have been lost due to piracy.

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Originally Posted by BigIg

If I support the game company, then I won't won't be supporting the blank DVD business.

Decisions, decisions.

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Well I certainly welcome EAs proposed changes. I was beginning to think that piracy would become a neccessity in order to maintain your system's integrity.
Also as for being honest EA has never ever lost a sale to me due to me pirating it, everything that I did not get from the shops (which includes buying old games from friends when they are looking to sell off some to afford a new game), was either not availalbe (which happens to me a lot...PC shops around here suck and only the most popular stuff and a shovelware ever make it here...nothing inbetween and popular stocks don't usually stick around long enough to hit the bargain bin, they simply vanish) or they were simply not affordable at the time.

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Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

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Last edited by SCHUMI_4EVER; October 23rd, 2008 at 22:36..

[Coolsvilleman]

I think the whole business model needs to change. Valve has the right idea with steam imo. Microsoft has the right idea with Live Arcade.

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[Exodus]

If EA can actually do something worthwhile that goes against current DRM norms, it COULD bring a nice change to the industry considering how huge they are.

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[shafeen]

piracy would end if the creators reduce the price of the game in countries like in India where every game is sold in direct conversion of dollar<<a box piece game cost around 800-1200 here,20-50 usd>> while 20 or maybe 50 usd can be a small thing in the us<<small enough for parents to allow their kids to buy it>> but in india its a big amount as it is roughly 10% of the income of the middle class guy.......a person cant let his son buy a game that cost him 10% of his income .......

these guys are keen on making huge profits here....the games box +dvds+cost of electricity for writing on a dvd would cost less than 100 rupess the rest of it is a direct profit...they can keep prices near the prices of persons selling pirated cds ie 150 or so....they would earn more profits this way as guys like me would buy those.....

we gamers of developing world have no chice as our pocket dosent permit us to buy games......thats why we rely on pirates

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[IamWhatIam]

yup I totally agree with shafeen.
just a new game is as expensive as a new 1GB or 2GB ddr2 RAM.
In India, feels bad to say this but, before buying a computer the shopkeepers say,"sir do you want original copy of the OS or pirated, original costs Rs6000 and pirated is a free gift". So basically people only buy hardware in India.

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Originally Posted by PsyMan

I personally find the way some members react when things do not go as they wish pathetic.

You can always add a member in your ignore list, report his posts, request a ban, but making a new thread/post announcing that you're leaving just because of this member... it is pathetic.

Not worth to give a damn. So long, goodbye, don't let the door hit your back on your way out.

[Mad]

The same goes on here in Brazil.
Only Companies buy Windows, regular people just get the pirated one.

And new games here are also expensive, like R$100 for PC and R$150~200 for Xbox 360 and PS3...

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[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Originally Posted by IamWhatIam

yup I totally agree with shafeen.
just a new game is as expensive as a new 1GB or 2GB ddr2 RAM.
In India, feels bad to say this but, before buying a computer the shopkeepers say,"sir do you want original copy of the OS or pirated, original costs Rs6000 and pirated is a free gift". So basically people only buy hardware in India.

said the guy with a QX9770 and GTX280 SLI, honestly if you can afford hardware like that you can at least afford some games.

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No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[Exodus]

Originally Posted by IamWhatIam

yup I totally agree with shafeen.
just a new game is as expensive as a new 1GB or 2GB ddr2 RAM.
In India, feels bad to say this but, before buying a computer the shopkeepers say,"sir do you want original copy of the OS or pirated, original costs Rs6000 and pirated is a free gift". So basically people only buy hardware in India.

I disagree. That's just pirates' default excuse. If prices go down, they'll say they do it because most games are garbage and don't deserve the money.

The real reason is simply the human nature of greed, and quite frankly, why pay for something if you don't have to?

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[Squall-Leonhart]

i'd be more inclined to buy new releases if they didn't cost as much., instead i wait till they are priced at about 20-30AU, which means they failed at making a better sale anyway.

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[Exodus]

You still eventually buy them. All it really means is that you put other things above gaming - maybe they're doing you a favour.

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No, I don't like anime, Street Fighter, Japanese music or download video game music. Yes, I know, I'm weird.

[Mad]

I waited 6 months to buy TF2...
But in the end i just did. Why?
Good games deserves my money

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[Hard core Rikki]

lobby-based online multiplayer remains the best argument that makes people prefer the real thing.
Being registered on the official ladders is something appreciable, especially for tournament players and similar gamers.

TF2, Battle.net games , etc...

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[PCXL-Fan]

If you make the online component a much sought after feature people will be forced to buy it if they want to play on official servers. Sure people can still play on unofficial servers, but those are always limited what they offer since you only have a limited number of people playing them.

TF2 is a good example. I'm sure there are pirated copies floating around, but to get great enjoyment out of the game you'd wanna play on official servers. Having the knowhow to setup a pirated version of tf2 and perhaps editting registries or config files so you can play on some server with an unofficial steam emulator is another obstacle for most people.

And the limited user base of an unoffical server and less server reliability would hamper ones enjoyment of the game.

Games with awesome single player components such as Witcher, Crysis, Oblivion or Bioshock will always have higher rates of piracy since the pirater is offered alot in the via the singleplayer component.

Games like Sims 2 while primarily offline im sure its pirated plenty, targets a casual (often female) user base. The casual gamers often don't pirate and aren't technically knowledged so they don't do lots of pirating. So the mass of legitimate purchases more than compensate for the loss of sales.

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Originally Posted by Exodus

Yes, I like anime, Street Fighter, Japanese music and download video game music. Yes, I know... I've changed.

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Last edited by PCXL-Fan; October 24th, 2008 at 21:24..

[Squall-Leonhart]

can't disagree with that at all.

the good old CD-Key and online content has always been the best anti-piracy measure.

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[Hard core Rikki]

Some games include deliberately hardcoded tripwires that can make 'tampered-with versions' behave erratically (I was under the impression Devil May Cry 4 included such), which isnt publicized, and sometimes could lead to negative advance reviews (such tripwires allowed a big gaming firm to debunk a treacherous insider who leaked one of their games early, from his home -more specifically, the versions sent to the plants included tripwires, but were not supposed to be pressed).



This bill of rights looks pretty alright. Remember the days of sharewaring Doom around the block? (the 10% ending up buying it certainly made ID happy enough, back in the days. Development budgets going crazy can only lead to crazy pricing. 100 million dollars to make a game??)


1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don't work with their computers for a full refund.
2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
3. Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will adequately play on that computer.
6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won't install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their express consent.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the internet every time they wish to play.
10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.

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[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

If you make the online component a much sought after feature people will be forced to buy it if they want to play on official servers. Sure people can still play on unofficial servers, but those are always limited what they offer since you only have a limited number of people playing them.

TF2 is a good example. I'm sure there are pirated copies floating around, but to get great enjoyment out of the game you'd wanna play on official servers. Having the knowhow to setup a pirated version of tf2 and perhaps editting registries or config files so you can play on some server with an unofficial steam emulator is another obstacle for most people.

And the limited user base of an unoffical server and less server reliability would hamper ones enjoyment of the game.

Games with awesome single player components such as Witcher, Crysis, Oblivion or Bioshock will always have higher rates of piracy since the pirater is offered alot in the via the singleplayer component.

Games like Sims 2 while primarily offline im sure its pirated plenty, targets a casual (often female) user base. The casual gamers often don't pirate and aren't technically knowledged so they don't do lots of pirating. So the mass of legitimate purchases more than compensate for the loss of sales.

Well if it's all online then that aint gonna help either for 3rd world countries, piracy will drop yes...but so will sales. The key is balance between single player online, good single player should be provided but with some sort of enticement to also play the game online if you can.

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Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!