5 ms·

> They don't because too many people pirate games to make that a viable business. This is what we've been told since time eternal but it seems more likely that

> They don't because too many people pirate games to make that a viable business. This is what we've been told since time eternal but it seems more likely that those pirating are those that wouldn't be inclined to pay at all.

embedding-shape 9mo ago
> eternal but it seems more likely that those pirating are those that wouldn't be inclined to pay at all. There are a lot of different reasons people pirate games, and other stuff, not all reasons apply to everyone, and some reasons on apply to a few. I used to pirate 99% of the games I played when I was young, because my family simply didn't have money to buy me video games. Once I grew older and had more disposable income, I started buying more games on Steam. Now I have more disposable income than I know what to do with, and I'm back to pirating games, but only for the ones that don't have proper demos available. I probably spent $1000 on games I no longer play and cannot refund, because I'm over the 2 hour limit, and nowadays I pirate the game, and if I enjoy it, I buy it as a way of supporting the developer. I'm probably not alone with this sort of process, but it's probably also not the only reason other's pirate.
deleted 9mo ago
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doctorpangloss 9mo ago
people are commenting in this HN thread like piracy hasn't been thought about, deeply, by many thousands of people for ages in the games industry. i could link to numerous people writing very wise things about it - the CEO of a certain competitor to GOG and Steam comes to mind, he basically wrote the Luther thesis on games piracy - but then i'd be downvoted.
- nottorp 9mo ago
  If it's Epic, they went the predatory free to play route and are financed by gacha money from Tencent. If it's EA or Ubisoft, they make boring design-by-commitee "AAA"s - lately with IAPs thrown in - and I don't even look at what they release.
- jonasdegendt 9mo ago
  I’m interested, please link!

embedding-shape 9mo ago

> eternal but it seems more likely that those pirating are those that wouldn't be inclined to pay at all. There are a lot of different reasons people pirate games, and other stuff, not all reasons apply to everyone, and some reasons on apply to a few. I used to pirate 99% of the games I played when I was young, because my family simply didn't have money to buy me video games. Once I grew older and had more disposable income, I started buying more games on Steam. Now I have more disposable income than I know what to do with, and I'm back to pirating games, but only for the ones that don't have proper demos available. I probably spent $1000 on games I no longer play and cannot refund, because I'm over the 2 hour limit, and nowadays I pirate the game, and if I enjoy it, I buy it as a way of supporting the developer. I'm probably not alone with this sort of process, but it's probably also not the only reason other's pirate.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

doctorpangloss 9mo ago

people are commenting in this HN thread like piracy hasn't been thought about, deeply, by many thousands of people for ages in the games industry. i could link to numerous people writing very wise things about it - the CEO of a certain competitor to GOG and Steam comes to mind, he basically wrote the Luther thesis on games piracy - but then i'd be downvoted.

nottorp 9mo ago
If it's Epic, they went the predatory free to play route and are financed by gacha money from Tencent. If it's EA or Ubisoft, they make boring design-by-commitee "AAA"s - lately with IAPs thrown in - and I don't even look at what they release.
jonasdegendt 9mo ago
I’m interested, please link!