Minecraft Dev: “Piracy Is Not Theft”
Oh, people love to ramble on about piracy — even now, I wanna throw my two cents in, with lots of examples and statistics. But does anybody still care? I give the man props: Markus Persson of Minecraft recently said “Piracy is not theft. If you steal a car, the original is lost. If you copy a game, there are simply more of them in the world.”
Right — more copies for people to enjoy, tell their friends about, or blog about. “There is no such thing as a ‘lost sale’,” he said, debunking another popular myth. “Is a bad review a lost sale? What about a missed ship date?” Persson continues,”Treat game development as a service,” he says. “Make a game last longer than a week. You can’t pirate an online account.”
The biggest news here is probably how much this seems to be getting commented on at the sites I frequent. It seems, unless you deliberately misinterpret his words, his intent is scarcely debated much by devs anymore, instead being talked about by fanboys, publishers, worriwarts, and investors.
The big problem is, of course, that his comments are a bit extreme; in my opinion developers have every right to get pissed off and feel ripped off by pirates in general. And some pirates are probably just too lazy to log into Steam or something. But if you read the rest of his comments, you can see that he is also acknowledging that pirates are just as good (or bad, if your game sucks) publicity as any paying customer, and that many actually become paying customers.
It’s also not just MMOs. A ton of indie games are succeeding right now, and lots of it with no DRM. The recipe seems to be equal parts quality games with careful play balance and pricing, good community presence and customer support, and genuine grassroots publicity.
In other news, this is my first post. Hello, world!
Theres a forum thread for people like you. Introduce yourself and welcome.
Personally I beleive that man is bringing the argument on piracy back a few miles. He’s defending pirates with their excuses and therefore legitimising their hollow lies. Piracy hurts the gaming intustry. If you need an anecdote ask Securerom or Ubisoft’s AC2 servers. Even if it isnt sales figures you hurt, that is not to say there is no damage.
Even if piracy isn’t theft, piracy is reducing sales numbers. So you can either pay for your food or punch someone in the face for your food. Once you get used to punching people, you will never ever pay for food again.
Also Marcus doesn’t care about the piracy of his software, because he makes money by selling accounts to said software. And actually that is what he wanted to say, but the internet will not listen.
Hmm, I think perhaps we have a different view because we live in different countries. Sure, there are some spoiled rich kids out there playing pirated games all day, but the majority of pirates are probably poor and/or outside of typical release areas. I think there is significant legitimacy — and benefit, for developers that last — to this form of piracy.
Also, asking Securom for “anecdotes” is like asking Grumman whether we really need another mixed-role fighter/interceptor, or Clarence Thomas whether grabass is sexual harrassment. Even the mere example of “punching people in the face” for food immediately reveals flawed logic. How many 55-year-olds do you see beating random people? Why would a gainfully employed person waste time pirating video games if another reasonable purchasing method exists? This wet behind the ears moralism about piracy may be a safe way to be “right”, but it does nothing to address the real issues of piracy. It amounts to little more than stating your habits.
I will come out for the record, since many people refuse to admit: I have pirated before, but I have almost no interest in it now. Piracy is more similar to underage drinking than to carjacking. I’ve got monies, I’m busy, digital distribution is badass, and computer security is not a real hobby of mine. Seeing great devs prosper from my reimbursement for their efforts is a wonderful side effect!
@qp: Only that underage drinking is still paying the alcohol industry.
Also what exactly is that benefit for developers you are talking about when people pirate their games? Just take a look at sales numbers for the PSP or DS, two systems that have a giant piracy problem, or look at what happened to the Dreamcast or even the Amiga computers.
I have looked at the sales numbers. The NDS will be remembered as one of the most successful consoles in history, if its kickass run ever finishes, lol. PSP software still accounts for 12% of all console software sales in the US. Hell, the PS2 was easy to pirate and it still accounts for .7%! This while Japan remains their strongest markets. The Amiga!? Is that a joke, or are you including that to appear old school or something? There have always been piracy problems on desktop PCs. But they remain the #1 device in terms of sales of software and profits from software. The Amiga was incredibly successful as a gaming platform, and was the #1 target for games developers in the early 90s, until Commodore folded. Back then, piracy was called “sharing”.
Sharing continues. Plenty of piracy is lazy and lame. But even spoiled brat pirates talk about games. Not everyone can be a pirate. When your friend says ‘I stole this awesome game’, I don’t recommend you steal it. I want to see developers flourish. However, even if you go and buy the game, some portion of that profit is due to your friend informing you of it.
I understand that you are opposed to piracy, and respect that. I used to pirate games and say I would pay for them if I liked them. Often, I would forget, or be lazy. Now, I just pay for games. It’s faster and more satisfying. But that does not change the facts — for example, the NDS is not failing, let alone due to “giant piracy”. And sometimes, pirates do help game sales. If your job is to convince people that piracy is the end of the world, then you conflate “piracy estimates” with lost, full-price sales. The rest of us stick to the truth.
So the truth is piracy is great for the industry and has no negative side at all? Thank you for helping me understand this difficult world.
Don’t be like that, man. Isn’t it possible we’re each a little bit right? Anyway, I’ll quit it. Neither of us need the stress.
Sorry to revive this… I was struck by the impulse to comment.
I’m with qp. When I was a jobless kid, with a poor single mother who didnt really approve of video games, I pirated a lot. Now, I’m an adult, and not even a remotely wealthy one, and I just don’t pirate any more. Although I admit I have sent copies of games I have purchased to friends I knew would never have been exposed to them. I consider it to be the equivalent of lending them a great book.
I don’t really think pirating is a saintly beneficial act or anything, but I do think the extreme reactions to it are a little puzzling, considering the things that happen in this world that get more or less ignored.