Amirit
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Post by Amirit on Sept 26, 2017 18:41:24 GMT
Unexpected results of EU Commission investigation: www.vg247.com/2017/09/25/no-evidence-that-piracy-affects-video-games-sales-says-the-eu-commission/The European Commission has said, based on a new report, that piracy does not actually affect game sales. The 307-page report (via Games Industry) was produced by research firm Ecorys on the effects of piracy on games, and other entertainment products such as film, TV, music, and books. The countries surveyed include the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, and Sweden. Of these countries, Poland, and Spain were found to be have the highest rates of piracy. The report says that an average of 51% off all EU adults, and 72% of all EU minors have illegally downloaded or streamed entertainment content. For games, only 18% of respondents admitted to have illegally downloaded games, and 16% admitted to playing on a modded console. One of the main points was to see if such acts end up losing entertainment companies sales. “In general, the results do not show robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online copyright infringements,” the report found. “That does not necessarily mean that piracy has no effect but only that the statistical analysis does not prove with sufficient reliability that there is an effect.” Interestingly, the report found that sales and price reductions do not actually affect consumers’ tendency to pirate games, because prices are “at a level broadly corresponding” to what those pirates would have paid. 55% of respondents said that they would be willing to pay for their most recent illegal downloads at market prices or higher. Where there’s an effect on game sales, the report found it to be positive, which could suggest that “illegal consumption leads to increased legal consumption,” according to the findings. It’s important to point out that this report only reflects European countries, which have traditionally had low rates of of PC piracy – likely the biggest contributor to games piracy. Other regions, specifically those where game prices are much more expensive compared to the average income, may very well tell a different story. |
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Post by Arijon van Goyen on Sept 26, 2017 18:44:40 GMT
Hmm... So all those so many people in Asia, Russia, Middle East and in South and East Europe pirating games has just a little effect on game sales? Also... oy vey shut it down, the goyim knows about our marketing strategies |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2017 19:22:31 GMT
On piracy in general I don't believe it actually has as big an impact as some might think.
It's really easy to say, oh, XX amount of copies were illegally downloaded thus we lost a corresponding XX amount of sales.
When in reality, some of those sales very likely would not have happened in the first place. It's not a clear line between someone that downloaded something and that same someone buying the same thing if a file-sharing option wasn't available.
Furthermore, advertising from free sources has without a doubt caused sales. I myself have gone both ways back when I lived with a bunch of roommates. I've downloaded a free game (albeit this one not pirated) Firefall, enjoyed it for a bit, then told my friend about it. He went out the next day spent $75 on it. He would not have even known of it's existence without me trying the free option; and this has worked vice versa as well. Also as an aside, spending money on Firefall was a massive waste, but oh well. Doesn't have to be direct sales comparisons either. I've never spent a bent penny watching "Rick and Morty" but I'd buy a Tshirt or some interesting merchandise. Or for that matter would love to have my girlfriend buy me something for Christmas/Birthday/etc.
So, some loss yes, but not as large a chunk as figures can be made to represent.
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Post by LightningPoodle on Sept 26, 2017 20:06:17 GMT
Playing/viewing a copy of a game/movie is directly affecting the makers income. I don't believe that piracy does not affect that.
If I make a game and everyone pirates it, I don't make any money yet they have consumed what I have created. I need to be paid for my work. If you don't buy it, I don't get paid.
As for "pirates wouldn't have bought the game anyway" is a bullshit argument. Regardless whether or not they would buy it, they have still consumed it. If you go into a supermarket, eat a load of food off the shelves and leave without paying, you have stolen it. The supermarket has lost money and you walk away feeling whatever you want, regardless of whether or not you enjoyed what you ate. You don't get to consume something just because you don't think it's worth paying for.
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by Beerfish on Sept 26, 2017 20:56:45 GMT
How did they prove this statement?
"Where there’s an effect on game sales, the report found it to be positive, which could suggest that “illegal consumption leads to increased legal consumption,” according to the findings."
Unless they have totally verifiable data on this it seems dubious. It's pretty easy to assume that good game get high sales and also high piracy. It doesn't mean that the piracy positively affected sales to any great extent.
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Post by Cyonan on Sept 26, 2017 21:55:29 GMT
The thing about piracy is that you have a particular group of people who wont ever pay for it. Even if you somehow created the perfect anti-piracy system and it was impossible to pirate the game, these people would simply just not play the game rather than pay for it.
Those people are not lost sales. There is no doubt that it's still breaking the law, but it's not a lost sale.
Then there are people who will pirate something because it's easier to pirate than it is to legally purchase it. Here in Canada Game of Thrones is incredibly annoying to legally get and as a result is one of the most pirated shows in the country. HBO Go isn't offered in Canada and the only way to really legally watch it is to pay hundreds of dollars for a TV package.
In this case making it more annoying to legally purchase your product is going to really only further push people into pirating it. It's not that this group of people are unwilling to pay for what you're selling, but rather than you make it too frustrating to do so.
You can argue that these people should opt to just not watch/play the thing rather than illegally download it and you'd be able to have a good run of that argument but it doesn't really change it from a publisher's perspective: You're not buying their product because you've made it too inconvenient to do so, and they would buy it if you made it more convenient.
Gabe Newell was right when he said that piracy is a service problem. The problem is that when the pirates offer a better means to enjoy your content than you do, you push more people into pirating your game, movie, or show. This is why Steam has been so successful: Despite some major issues early on, it has become a very convenient way to get games. It also has all but eliminated the used games market on PC but not a lot of people on PC care because Steam is just that convenient to use and it opened up the door to great Steam sales.
Which Steam still is DRM, the thing that many gamers say they hate and then turn around and want every game to be on the DRM platform of Steam. It's just that Steam offers enough of a level of anti-piracy that most importantly has a minimal affect on the paying customer. That's the key right there.
DRM that negatively affects the customer like always-online services that get overloaded and break down on day 1 pushes people to pirate it, because that's the more convenient route to play the game.
To be clear here I'm not advocating that people go out and pirate anything that has DRM on it, but I am saying that if you as a publisher or developer add an annoying and frustrating level of DRM to your game then don't be surprised if piracy rates go up.
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Post by Serza on Sept 27, 2017 6:43:27 GMT
Then again, this is the organization that thinks banning firearms will stop all future terrorist attacks.
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Post by Arijon van Goyen on Sept 27, 2017 7:34:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2017 9:44:41 GMT
I'd say this only applies to the big AAA devs with bestselling games, otherwise the lesser known indie developers suffer.
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Post by nanotm on Sept 27, 2017 15:34:47 GMT
it used to be the case that you could get a pirate copy of a game for 5bucks and try it out within 24 hours your copy of the game would no longer work and if you liked the game you would then pop out and buy a copy of it, similar things happened with movies
then someone realised they could make money off the piracy and we got Netflix/amazon etc online movie services and piracy plummeted... except of new releases that your still waiting weeks or months for them to arrive online.... I want to watch movies but its damned expensive for me to go to the cinema (need a special taxi, have to pay for premium seating for two people and suddenly a trip to the movies costs more than a meal for two and a few drinks) they don't do daytime shows at convenient times so I haven't been to the cinema in over 18 months.... I have however watched movies of rather dubious quality and then gone on to buy a copy and watch it multiple times... but only when its on sale unless its seriously good...
if games companies don't want their games pirated they should make them easy access or multiplatform (I've played a few playstation only games that were pirated onto pc or xbox in the past) fortunately there doesn't seem to be as much a of a problem any more since most games now are multi platform anyway... if the movies or music industry don't want their stuff pirated they should make it affordable and easy to consume, if the cinema didn't cost 16 per person and insist I have an able bodied adult with me I might go there, of course its out of town doesn't put anything on before 1300 and you cant book the wheelchair capable taxies between 1400 and 700 because there all contracted by the local schools for the kids that need them (I don't mind that because who in their right mind would) that means I have to book around this which means its a night time show so the tickets become 18 per person.... I don't spend that much when I take my wife out for a steak dinner with a nice bottle of plonk, and I sure as hell am not paying it to watch a movie I might not like....
so yes piracy might harm some sales but in the majority of cases it actually helps them, that's not to say the pirates shouldn't be punished (those making the content available and gaining cash from doing so) but the consumers shouldn't suffer due to the price gouging and lack of awareness of the original content creators.... if I was to make a pirate copy of something and distribute it then get caught and punished for doing so it would be a fair cop, however when someone in my household uses the internet to watch something on a pirate website how is the at my fault why should I be punished for it?
I give my family access to several legal options but if the content isn't there, there going to look at those pirate places and use them .... so if anyone should be punished its the creators of the content who keep trying to gouge the consumers....
i'm lead to believe that cinema's are closing all over the world the companies that run them claim this is because of piracy but in reality its because the prices keep skyrocketing, they overcharge for the tickets and they overcharge for the food n drinks provided, the one in our town has even been found guilty of price fixing because it colluded with half the local shops so they all charged the same price for the various items it sells.... and they wonder why more than half the country prefers to watch stuff from online sources for free......
if the entertainment industry wants to stay relevant and keep making money it needs to evolve start charging reasonable prices for content access and stop overinflating everything
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