id Software's CEO Todd Hollenshead has revealed that videogame piracy "has pushed id as being multiplatform."
In a lecture on videogame piracy during last week's GDC, he explained that the Doom and Quake developer started to eye console platforms as a method to battle the financial loss piracy incurs.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was given as an example of id's multiplatform direction. Originally in development for PC at the hands of Splash Damage and id Software, the multiplayer-focussed action game is now additionally heading to Xbox 360 and PS3.
In related news, the topic of videogame piracy was brought up in during a panel discussion focussing on the future of PC gaming at GDC last week.
In the discussion, Soren Johsnon - designer/lead programmer, Sid Meier's Civilization III & IV - said "game design on the PC is going to bend toward persistence" as in MMOGs. Massively multiplayer online games succeed because "You cannot pirate an MMO. Period", said Johsnon.
.....he explained that the Doom and Quake developer started to eye console platforms as a method to battle the financial loss piracy incurs.
Which I'm sure were recouped and then some.....
I don't believe for a second that the sole reason for making the jump to multiplatform was because of piracy. It may have had something to do with it, but the bags of gold coins labeled XBOX and PS2 probably helped too.
Can't say it bothers me that much. ID have made good engines which other people have put to good use, but they themselves, they haven't made an outstanding game for sometime IMHO.
The long and old debate about piracy will never go away, but I can't believe that every game that a person pirates would necessarily get bought buy them anyway. I imagine it is a bit like sweet shop syndrome where people can see everything, so want everything but ultimately never really enjoy them as they are to diluted and skimmed over.
They only have it, because they can. Not because they really want to play it. If they had to pay they wouldn't bother they would play something else they truly like, not just something they want to look at to check the new effects etc. The piracy angle doesn't work here because stats might show that an ID game was copied 20,000 times say, but that doesn't mean 20,000 sales would have happened. They just wouldn't, couldn't buy everything.
One genuine bought title will probably get played longer, maybe completed more than once and then played multiplayer online. As most people have a job and life as well, this takes them long enough, they don't have time to play everything. Sales are poor, due to competition for peoples time and you need a good game these days to get peoples time AND money.
Maybe it's lack of originality by ID. Consoles haven't had their stuff so they aren't bored of it yet so it should sell ok for a while
This seems slightly suspect, since for the last few years, the main reason they've included just barebone copy protection (a simple CD-Key that is exposed in a .txt file in the install folder) is that they recoup all "piracy related losses" on the sale of their engines.
I'm reckoning that the move to consoles has more to do with the fact that they've started to lose money to competition (UE3 and now the new Crytek engine).
Todd Hollenshead is a great person. I have met him and some of the other co-owners of id software I do not think that anyone of those guys are hurting for cash. it's apparent bye carmack playing with real rockets and the other co-owners driving ferrari's. sure piracy is rampant in the PC world and so it is in the console front. if more ppl could d/l games to their modded console they would sure as heck do it!
Video games are becoming increasingly expensive to produce. With shrinking margins it makes sense to do this as even though piracy was a relatively small issue it becomes more significant as other costs rise.
The console market is so huge I'm surprised that it's taken so long for so many PC developers to go multi-format. ID games tend to be no-brainers but are full of action and pretty graphics, just what the average pick up and play console gamer wants.
piracy is out of control on PC games, and its vastly less common on consoles, where it can often involve mod chips. The guys are only stating the obvious. with MMos and console games less pirated, everyone is now moving to make those. You simply cannot spend money making a new game when you know a huge portion of the potential market are just going to steal it. Anyone who thinks that piracy doesn't hurt the games industry has clearly never worked in it.
1. U cannot protect a PC game, when people have a mean to pirate it, they will do it. 2. I bet they want more money, why not? I want more money too. Just why say something like it? 3. U can pirate MMO and people do it, I played pirated MMO by myself. 4. I've got pirated and ORIGINAL games (both) in my collection and every true fan of any game who really loves it and appreciate peoples time will buy it anyway - in my opinion.
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