Piracy cost 1.5 billion pounds in 2010

UKIE has reported that pirated video games may have cost the industry around £1.5bn in sales last year.

The trade body has reported that several publishers have claimed illegally downloaded games could outnumber those sold legitimately by as much as 4:1 – and UKIE director general Michael Rawlinson claims that even a 1:1 ratio would be severe.MCV UK

The above is only an excerpt.You can read the full article here.

That's not very good news to read about. The comments, of course, argue that not every pirated game should be equated to a sale and what not, but it's still bad news even if the ratios don't quite line up. What do you say?

I can't really comment on numbers based on magic.

Even if this fact were true, the industry is making more money than ever. I can't see how it's such a big deal, go hunt down the legal piracy, trade in games.

I don't think any excuse should be used to validate piracy wether that be they make a lot of money, the game already sold millions of copies, the game wasn't any good, etc. Wrong is wrong and piracy is a problem that needs to be dealt with, of course hopefully in a way that doesn't punish legitimate consumers.Archangel3371

Like how we as costumers shouldn't have to put up with buggy or unfinished products we buy? The software industry is almost the only exception where you can release buddy software and games, and don't have to care about the consequences. We're all morons for putting up with it, but I've heard that there are forces in the UK who want to forbidd software and gaming companys from releasing unfinished products. But that will never happen sadly, because we customers are just a bunch of muppets.

1.5 million pounds = 75,000 tons. Heavy

The public is the one stealing, no one gives a **** when faceless corporations gets robbed? No one! I hope half that money comes straight out of Activisions pocket.

Unlike with piracy, every used game sold means lost revenue for the game companies. RK-Mara

No, it doesn't.

[QUOTE="RK-Mara"]Unlike with piracy, every used game sold means lost revenue for the game companies. Greyfeld

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"][QUOTE="RK-Mara"]Unlike with piracy, every used game sold means lost revenue for the game companies. Hexagon_777

1. Many times, gamers buy games used that they would not otherwise buy new, because the game is dirt cheap.

2. Allowing for the purchase of used games potentially create new fans of a franchise, increasing future potential new purchases.

3. The presence of used games allows for gamers to buy new games with the knowledge they can sell them if they don't like the purchase. Taking away that potential would reduce the number of new game sales, especially for those of new IPs.

Like how we as costumers shouldn't have to put up with buggy or unfinished products we buy? The software industry is almost the only exception where you can release buddy software and games, and don't have to care about the consequences. We're all morons for putting up with it, but I've heard that there are forces in the UK who want to forbidd software and gaming companys from releasing unfinished products. But that will never happen sadly, because we customers are just a bunch of muppets.

kaealy

No offence dude, but that would be a really stupid law to pass...

First off, how do you determine something as subjective as a product being "finished". Just because a developer lacks the resources to make a game as high quality as things like Uncharted, or Halo, or Mass Effect, does that mean their game is "unfinished" and can't be sold?

Also, what if a developer pumps millions of dollars into a project and it doesn't meet the standards. Does that mean they have to just scrap the game and lose all that money even if there are plenty of people willing to buy it?

You know the beautiful thing about capitalism, there is no need to use restrictions like that. If a product is genuinely bad, then it won't sell, the company will go out of business, and the quality problem is solved.

I don't see why anyone who plays should care.

Most everyone has paid full price for a game that was not finished or did not work. By not working I am refering to the titles where most consumers could not get it run on day one.

Why should I care how much money they lose?

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"][QUOTE="Greyfeld"]No, it doesn't.Greyfeld

1. Many times, gamers buy games used that they would not otherwise buy new, because the game is dirt cheap.

2. Allowing for the purchase of used games potentially create new fans of a franchise, increasing future potential new purchases.

3. The presence of used games allows for gamers to buy new games with the knowledge they can sell them if they don't like the purchase. Taking away that potential would reduce the number of new game sales, especially for those of new IPs.

Are we talking used games from places like Game, HMV, and GameStop or from places like eBay? I myself use price comparison websites and thus I never buy used games since they tend to be more expensive than their new counterparts online. That is from places like Game and HMV, the ones that flaunt used games. Also, the PC does not have used game sales and yet new IPs seem to do just fine on it, right?

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]

[QUOTE="Greyfeld"]No, it doesn't.Greyfeld

1. Many times, gamers buy games used that they would not otherwise buy new, because the game is dirt cheap.

2. Allowing for the purchase of used games potentially create new fans of a franchise, increasing future potential new purchases.

3. The presence of used games allows for gamers to buy new games with the knowledge they can sell them if they don't like the purchase. Taking away that potential would reduce the number of new game sales, especially for those of new IPs.

*sigh*

I hate when people conflate every pirated copy to be a "lost sale." It doesn't work that way.

Used games isn't the same as piracy. I believe there are some benefits to the used game market. The biggest one is that it keeps some consumers continually trading in games to help them get new ones.Archangel3371

dude this is for video games? i didnt read the article. but i interened at a motion picture company and the film industry loses are much much bigger.

dude this is for video games? i didnt read the article. but i interened at a motion picture company and the film industry loses are much much bigger.giantqtipz

Like you said, pirating a game doesn't equal one sale. For all you know, someone who pirated the game may have been trying it out and bought it because they liked it. And most pirates wouldn't buy the game even if they couldn't pirate it.

True cost of piracy= 0.00

/thread

*sigh*

I hate when people conflate every pirated copy to be a "lost sale." It doesn't work that way.

foxhound_fox

How dare you deny people a chance at sanctimonious internet rants!

At the core of the problem is IMO the fact that we're still applying old views of what property is to data - unlike physical property, data can be copied any numbe of times without any noticeable costs, which requires changes to the moral and logistical approaches to the problem.inoperativeRS

True cost of piracy= 0.0

QuistisTrepe_

Obviously the "piracy = stealing" thing is a flawed analogy, but it's not totally off. Whether you steal a car or download a pirated copy of photoshop, you're still taking someone's hard work (and product of millions of dollars) without their permission. And a lot of people have a moral objection to that. Obviously it's a lot harder to quantify the monetary damages since it's completely variable for each person, but I don't think it's wrong for developers to not want to put countless hours of work into a game just to see it up on a torrent site a week before release.

Teufelhuhn