Minecraft Creator: Piracy Isn't Theft
Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson told attendees of the GDC Indie Games Summit that the notion of piracy as being theft is incorrect.
"Piracy is not theft," said Persson during the session. "If you steal a car, the original is lost. If you copy a game, there are simply more of them in the world. There is no such thing as a 'lost sale.' Is a bad review a lost sale? What about a missed ship date?"
Persson suggested to attendees that many developers see pirates not as "inherently evil, but as potential customers." Persson also took on comments made by Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata, saying that his criticism of small and rampant mobile and social games excludes the fact that games such as Minecraft are more of a service than a one-time purchase. Persson said that games such as his creation and Angry Birds are constantly adding updates and new content and that both have incredible sales numbers.
"Treat game development as a service," he said. "Make a game last longer than a week. You can't pirate an online account."
It is amazing how well it works for business when you treat your customers better than than the pirates. One of the reasons I believe piracy is so rampant, is that there are often more rewards for being a pirate than an honest customer with many companies. That DRM (Digital Rights Management software) which can destroy your computer is no risk on a pirated version, which is only all the more reason to pirate what they put the DRM on!
I would hope this attitude would catch on, but I've worked too long in the corporate world. Power corrupts, and it is as true in the business world as it appears to be in the political one.
No comments:
Post a Comment