Piracy is Keeping EndWar off the PC, says UbiSoft

"To be honest, if PC wasn't pirated to hell and back, there'd probably be a PC version coming out the same day as the other two," he said, talking of the voice-controlled RTS.

"But at the moment, if you release the PC version, essentially what you're doing is letting people have a free version that they rip off instead of a purchased version. Piracy's basically killing PC."

We asked if piracy was the main reason to keep EndWar off PC.

"Yeah, at the time of release," he said. "You know, the level of piracy that you get with the PC just cannibalizes the others, because people just steal that version."

I'm getting sick of being treated like a criminal for other peoples actions.

I buy legitimate copies of games when I can easily acquire a pirate copy, even the Securom games. But do you ever hear a company talking about legitimate customers? Thanking and encouraging them to stay legitimate in hard times? No, PC gamers are broadly generalized as criminal scum.

It's like those anti piracy ads on movies you cannot skip. They are accusing people who purchased the movie of stealing it, while people who did steal the movie got the ad removed in their copy.

The crap I as a genuine customer have to put up with because of piracy, supporting your favourite platform is a largely thankless effort.

I like Ubisoft but the piracy excuse is not the reason imo, the fact that RA 3, DoW 2 and Empire TW will be released pretty close to each other is. The other 3 series have lots of fans, while End War is just a bad copy of WiC that thinks it's multiplayer will be MMORTS and the voice command feature + it's their first RTS so the quality won't be great.DanielDust

Well, it's clear no one will buy the latter two(DoW 2 and Empire TW), so it's basically only between EndWar and RA 3.

Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.GodLovesDead

I'm getting sick of being treated like a criminal for other peoples actions.

I buy legitimate copies of games when I can easily acquire a pirate copy, even the Securom games. But do you ever hear a company talking about legitimate customers? Thanking and encouraging them to stay legitimate in hard times? No, PC gamers are broadly generalized as criminal scum.

It's like those anti piracy ads on movies you cannot skip. They are accusing people who purchased the movie of stealing it, while people who did steal the movie got the ad removed in their copy.

The crap I as a genuine customer have to put up with because of piracy, supporting your favourite platform is a largely thankless effort.

AnnoyedDragon

Well put. I agree completely.

here send this link back to ubsoft

http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/10/05/microsofts-pockets-not-so-deep-for-the-xbox-360-division/

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.blackdreamhunk

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

here send this link back to ubsoft

http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/10/05/microsofts-pockets-not-so-deep-for-the-xbox-360-division/

blackdreamhunk

lol nice find. I doubt the xbox will survive another 15 years. M$ investor will probably want to return to pc gaming, the last time they were really profitable when they were publishing popular game like zoo tycoon, aoe, freelancer...

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.GodLovesDead

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.blackdreamhunk

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

Not even close. The only comparable platform would be the PSP. You can't pirate 360 games without modding your 360 and being banned from XBL. You can't pirate PS3 games period. Wii games can be pirated. Most people who use consoles don't even know what piracy is. PC Piracy is as simple as a few mouse clicks. I could have any PC game on my computer within hours.

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.GodLovesDead

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

Not even close. The only comparable platform would be the PSP. You can't pirate 360 games without modding your 360 and being banned from XBL. You can't pirate PS3 games period. Wii games can be pirated. Most people who use consoles don't even know what piracy is. PC Piracy is as simple as a few mouse clicks. I could have any PC game on my computer within hours.

http://kotaku.com/5044010/capcom-explain-r4-lawsuit-participation

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Weekend-Reading-Fighting-Against-Piracy-91313.shtml

http://www.edge-online.com/news/activision-sues-alleged-cod-pirate

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.blackdreamhunk

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

Not even close. The only comparable platform would be the PSP. You can't pirate 360 games without modding your 360 and being banned from XBL. You can't pirate PS3 games period. Wii games can be pirated. Most people who use consoles don't even know what piracy is. PC Piracy is as simple as a few mouse clicks. I could have any PC game on my computer within hours.

http://kotaku.com/5044010/capcom-explain-r4-lawsuit-participation

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Weekend-Reading-Fighting-Against-Piracy-91313.shtml

http://www.edge-online.com/news/activision-sues-alleged-cod-pirate

I hate to sound extremely condescending but I'm not even going to read those links. I know (for a fact) that PC piracy is much larger than console piracy in America. Could be different in other countries, but I have a feeling PC piracy is the most prevalent.

please your not going to look at the facts, How about gta being pirated I hear it was alot more than must pc games!blackdreamhunk

Facts. Hearing? I heard they found bigfoot. I guess we now know for a fact bigfoot exists.

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"]please your not going to look at the facts, How about gta being pirated I hear it was alot more than must pc games!GodLovesDead

Facts. Hearing? I heard they found bigfoot. I guess we now know for a fact bigfoot exists.

And remember: PC gaming is NOT dead.

Or something.

yea i forgot you send this also to ubisoft

http://gametopius.com/index.php/video-games/features/250-the-death-of-the-video-game-console-market

Hooray for the Piracy scapegoat.

Excuses excuses.

Besdies Id much rather play WiC anyway.

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"][QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]Piracy is indeed killing the PC. It's as simple as that. It might not be as bad as developers claim it is - but it's there. And it can serve as a legitmate reason AND a scapegoat. Every lost developers hurts the PC as a platform, whether you like that developer or not.GodLovesDead

I will agree that there are new developers (and not so new) that are taking up where they left off, but like I said, it's a hit regardless. PC Gaming should be growing. Not dropping devs and picking up devs left and right. If at one point Ubisoft decided to not bring Splinter Cell to the PC, I'd be sad.

Not even close. The only comparable platform would be the PSP. You can't pirate 360 games without modding your 360 and being banned from XBL. You can't pirate PS3 games period. Wii games can be pirated. Most people who use consoles don't even know what piracy is. PC Piracy is as simple as a few mouse clicks. I could have any PC game on my computer within hours.

http://kotaku.com/5044010/capcom-explain-r4-lawsuit-participation

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Weekend-Reading-Fighting-Against-Piracy-91313.shtml

http://www.edge-online.com/news/activision-sues-alleged-cod-pirate

I hate to sound extremely condescending but I'm not even going to read those links. I know (for a fact) that PC piracy is much larger than console piracy in America. Could be different in other countries, but I have a feeling PC piracy is the most prevalent.

America is more about consoles and those roughly 5 million downloads of GTA 4 for Xbox in the first 3 days are more than a fact that console players pretty much know what pircy is, but it's true, most of them don't bother, but the numbers are pretty high no matter how you look at it. Xbox gets pirated as hell. PC is still the "king" but Xbox is a good rival.

Excuses, Excuse, Excuses...........

I suppose the millions that Microtheft and $ony pay devs for exclusivity deals and to delay pc releases has nothing at all to do with these disitions.

I like Ubisoft but the piracy excuse is not the reason imo, the fact that RA 3, DoW 2 and Empire TW will be released pretty close to each other is. The other 3 series have lots of fans, while End War is just a bad copy of WiC that thinks it's multiplayer will be MMORTS and the voice command feature + it's their first RTS so the quality won't be great.DanielDust

I agree 100%.This Endwar creature seems like a blatant ripoff from WiC with an added voice commands.

I hate to sound extremely condescending but I'm not even going to read those links. I know (for a fact) that PC piracy is much larger than console piracy in America. Could be different in other countries, but I have a feeling PC piracy is the most prevalent. GodLovesDead

Facts. Feeling? I feel like pots shouldn't be calling kettles black.

I'm getting sick of being treated like a criminal for other peoples actions.

I buy legitimate copies of games when I can easily acquire a pirate copy, even the Securom games. But do you ever hear a company talking about legitimate customers? Thanking and encouraging them to stay legitimate in hard times? No, PC gamers are broadly generalized as criminal scum.

It's like those anti piracy ads on movies you cannot skip. They are accusing people who purchased the movie of stealing it, while people who did steal the movie got the ad removed in their copy.

The crap I as a genuine customer have to put up with because of piracy, supporting your favourite platform is a largely thankless effort.

AnnoyedDragon

I feel the same way. I think it is also ridiculous to think that a RTS will become successful for being on console only. I just hope that other companies wont start ignoring the PC market.

I am getting less and less developers I can support these days with all these moronic statements they are releasing about piracy. First Lucasarts, then Crytek, then EA and now Ubisoft.foxhound_fox

This doesn't even make sense. You need a legit cd key to play online so even if people pirated it they COULD NOT play online. How does someone at Ubisoft not know this?comstrikeiscool

You don't need a legit key to play online.

I can't wait until their game gets pirated "to hell and back" on consoles and they can shut the hell up about PC gaming being the only source of piracy. I am getting less and less developers I can support these days with all these moronic statements they are releasing about piracy. First Lucasarts, then Crytek, then EA and now Ubisoft.foxhound_fox

Yea they are acting like consoles dont get the piracy treatment. But they sure do, i dont know how many adds i saw for people putting mod chips into a ps2, xbox or now xbox360.

its not just PC's, sure it happens a little more then consoles, but its far from just people on pc pirating games.

The day they stop making SP games is the day I quit PC gaming....

I don't like the human race enough to want to play only online.( I do LAN sometimes)

At least the games coming out this year and next will keep me busy for awhile....after that we will see...

But yeah PC gaming is getting roshamboed by piracy...so stop it !!!

I've stopped upgrading until I see how things go....

Believe it or not, like it or not, piracy *is* affecting the industry in a negative way. The abundance of game news regarding piracy and game devs not releasing PC versions of their titles just cannot be so easily disregarded with "scapegoat!" and "excuses!". Some? Maybe. All? Hardly. I think that unless something is done about piracy a lot of people are in for a rude awakening. Imagine the time when the only PC games you can buy have some form of online multiplayer only with no single player to speak of. The funny thing will be that the game devs will catch hell six ways to Sunday because of it when the real focus of all that rage should be the pirates. The game devs are only protecting their investments the best way they can with the tools we have at this time, the same as you would.Bane_v2

Yes, piracy is affecting the game industry in a negative way.. It doesn't still mean its not a scapegoat. But if the developers are true believers in what they are actually saying, its a big problem, even if actual piracy were not as a big a problem as they are saying. Its funny they use EndWar as an example though, a gimped console RTS.. And most of the devs doing this sort of complaining still release PC versions... Because it makes them money. They just think (and maybe they do) that they will make more by delaying the PC versions. (im assuming they are saying PC users will "steal" the PC version, instead of buying the console version)

I think, as with most things in life, there's rarely a single correct answer or one exclusive reason for something. However I think it's naive to assume that piracy is not a serious issue on the PC, more so than any other platform.

But to look at EndWar specifically, I'd be very surprised if part of the reasoning wasent the fact that the central appeal of the game was that it's supposedly works well with a controler. With that in mind it suddently becomes a lot less interesting title to release on the PC.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]I hate to sound extremely condescending but I'm not even going to read those links. I know (for a fact) that PC piracy is much larger than console piracy in America. Could be different in other countries, but I have a feeling PC piracy is the most prevalent. GreatDarkKnight

Facts. Feeling? I feel like pots shouldn't be calling kettles black.

It's common sense from a 10+ year old gamer. I'll take my own word over that over some random articles that only point out individual cases. PC piracy being so much easier than console piracy is enough of a reason. There's not much thought to it.

PC) PC Piracy is simple. It's easy. You can't get caught. You lose nothing by doing it.

360) Piracy is possible, but you lose your XBL membership and you have to open up you 360 which voids your warranty. Only hardcore pirates need apply.

PS3) Zero piracy. There's no possible methods of Blu-Ray piracy. No one is going to download a 50gb Blu-Ray. No one has Blu-Ray burners. Etc.

Wii) Only console where piracy is easy.

More 360/PS3 games are more likely to be stolen than pirated.

Like I cared about that game, when other, more high quality RTS are coming out.ZuluEcho14

Wait till a game you do care about is affected this way....