This morning I found an excellent article called PC Game Piracy Examined written by Koroush Ghazi over at TweakGuides.com that addresses the current state of PC video game piracy, and the so called “death of PC gaming” theory that has been circulating the internet as of late. Readers will recall my DRM essay uploaded some months ago that concluded among other things that

The basic flaws inherent in every DRM system, the rampant destruction of customers right to first sale and fair use, and the fear of device lock-in and market stagnation lead this author to believe that a better solution need be proposed to protect the intellectual properties of media producers.

Upon reading through Ghazi’s lengthy ten page article, I have to admit that I’ve been forced to take a hesitant step backward and re-evaluate some of the opinions that I’ve long held regarding DRM technologies. While I still agree and stand by many of the points made in my essay, his writing has cleverly challenged some of my conclusions.

The concept of Zero-Day Piracy is one that I did not research when writing my essay, and deals with the idea that hype for any product is at its height on launch day. Many expectant fans will rush to obtain the product by whatever means possible as soon as they can, and if a pirated version of that product is available on or before launch day, the first spike of revenue (often what ensures that the studio breaks even and continues to release subsequent products) is lost. In this regard, producers realize that their products will eventually be pirated, and use DRM to ensure that their products stand available only in legitimately purchased form for at least a week after launch. While it sounds hopeless, this week of legitimate sales is instrumental in ensuring the economic success of the product.

Another part of the article that really resonated with me was the discussion of how game developers and publishers are changing their business models to adapt to the problem of mass piracy. Some are choosing DRM, while others are moving toward MMORPG’s with a subscription model, and some are moving away from the PC entirely. As a portion of this section, the author discussed things that developers and publishers can do to try and reduce the number of pirated copies of their games. One of these suggestions called strongly for more demos. I especially appreciate this, as for some reason graphics-heavy games tend to crash my video card drivers on a regular basis (I blame Vista and/or Ultramon), and I like to try a game out to ensure that it will in fact run stable on my system before putting my money down. I had this problem after purchasing Left 4 Dead the other day ($50 later, it’s almost unplayable), and thought twice about buying Far Cry 2 this morning, realizing that it would probably push my machine too far, even though my video card is listed as supported. A demo of that game would have eased my choice along considerably.

While I still believe that DRM is bad for the system in the long run, Ghazi successfully pounds the point home that publishers turn to DRM systems in an effort to offset the damage done to their business by piracy. To excuse piracy on the basis of clever DRM systems that are hard to bypass is to turn a blind eye to the destruction reaped upon the digital marketplace by that same act of piracy and to in effect lend oneself to the continued downfall of beloved products, including music, movies, and video games.

I would recommend that any person who has in the past participated in the piracy of software, movies, or music take the time to read through this article, lengthy though it may be. Entertainment distribution is in a tough place across the board these days, but PC game development in particular is a sector that many inspired artists are dropping out of all together because they can no longer afford the risks involved. These same risks can make it nearly impossible to break into the business as an independent developer, as evidenced by the piracy rate documented by 2D Boy, developers of the incredible title World of Goo. In effect, by continuing to pirate products that we know and love, gamers are contributing to the downfall of this valued form of entertainment, and whether we agree with DRM or not, I think that it is important that we all take a moment to consider the real entertainment value of these products that we take for granted, and consider the true implications of our actions.