Crytek's Piracy Crysis

So more people pirated Crysis than purchased? Ouch

There are more people patching Crysis than there are legal owners of the game.

While software pirates argue that they only download videogames to test them out and have no interest in legitimately purchasing them, German developer Crytek, the makers of first-person shooter Crysis, asserts that they have data to prove otherwise. "The number of users who downloaded our patches, there were a lot more active players than there were unit sales. And I think we can safely say if they were still playing the game by the time our latest patch released, and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen," Engine Business Manager Harald Seeley told Edge-Online.

While Crytek has stated that its Crysis games are PC exclusives, the company has rebuilt its CryENGINE technology for the consoles and demonstrated it running on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 at this year's Game Developers Conference. Seeley was impressed by the current generation of consoles and said "console technology has advanced a great deal since we released Far Cry, and our teams have since found it very exciting to push the boundaries of what most people today consider possible to do on those platforms." Another aspect he admires about the consoles is the fact that it's harder to pirate on, "...The consoles themselves are, in one sense, simply very good DRM technologies that consumers welcome and pay for, in order to receive the benefits that come with them..."

http://pc.ign.com/articles/906/906291p1.html

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

and nice pun in the title.

renger6002

Complain to IGN. :?

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Vax45

exactly. most people who get the pirated version of a game, wouldn't buy it anyways.

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Vax45

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

[QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Never said I was an expert and how can you prove that they would have bought the game if they didn't know it could be downloaded?

[QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

You don't need to be an expert to know common sense.

[QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

[QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

phatkav

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.Jamex1987

[QUOTE="phatkav"][QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.

Yes. But that doesn't mean that 1 pirated copy = 1 sale lost. That ratio is not based on reality.

[QUOTE="phatkav"][QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.

Can you prove other wise? If i go into a store and steal a candy bar i most likley am not going to go back in there and buy another one unless it is a damn good candy bar and im still hungry.

[QUOTE="phatkav"][QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

Jamex1987

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.

Make a game more difficult to pirate? The harder they try, the more pissed their customers get. Right now, all games can be pirated and you can get any game pirated easily. So really there is no reason in just increading their anti-piracy measures just to mess up the people who buy the game.

Also it's common sense. Just because you can get it for free, does not mean you are going to pay for it when you can't get it for free. It does not apply to most pirates, but it does apply to a significant number of people who pirate games.

[QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="phatkav"][QUOTE="Jamex1987"][QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

organic_machine

Tell that to Crytek since you are the expert.

Do you disagree with him? What's he is saying is true. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy the game anyway so it's not exactly them losing sales.

There is no way you can prove that. I think sales would be a lot more if it was difficult to pirate the games.

Yes. But that doesn't mean that 1 pirated copy = 1 sale lost. That ratio is not based on reality.

Stop being silly. I never said 1 pirated copy =1 lost sale since not everyone would have bought it. But if you have millions pirating a game I am sure some of them would have bought it if they couldn't pirate so that's lost revenue.

Stop being silly. I never said 1 pirated copy =1 lost sale since not everyone would have bought it. But if you have millions pirating a game I am sure some of them would have bought it if they couldn't pirate so that's lost revenue.

Jamex1987

I was more referencing to Crytek's comments.

*raises hand*

I bought it.

Yea I will i bought the game I'm still insulted by all the game devs that blame pc for everything!When I buy my games I normally get CE. I feel sorry for crytek that the game got pirated but at the same time I have no respect for them to keep blaming pc for everything! As for consoles being so perfect for not being pirated is fales it way easy to pirate games on console. Even if pc gaming was dead pirates would turn to consoles and pirate games there. The reason pirate target pc more is because it's an open source.

I keep hearing people say "Well if they pirated the game then they wouldn't have bought the game anyways". The people saying this don't understand reality. Either that or they are just trying to argue their point that piracy isn't as bad as people say it is. There has been quite a lot of news recently with people being caught using pirated software. This is the first time I've heard of people going to jail for it recently but I know they have in the past. I know quite a few pirates and yes they would buy the game if they weren't able to get it for free. I know this. I've also visited many many MANY pirating forums. Heck I even use to do it myself. Why would someone pay for soemthign if they can get it for free? While many of the things they download they wouldn't pay for there are also many things that they would. Whether that is a virus scanner, a firewall program or a game such as Crysis.

While the developers are coming at you with cold hard facts and data you can all sit here and say things such as "Well pirates wouldn't buy software..." all you want but the developers are complaining. You can all say "Well that program I pirated from the internetz I wouldn't have bought it anyway so they didn't lose a sale..." but there are people going to jail right now for just what your arguing for. There are many free programs out there that can be used instead that are just as good. Why pirate if you get sued for most likely thousands of dollars by the end?

I keep hearing people say "Well if they pirated the game then they wouldn't have bought the game anyways". The people saying this don't understand reality. Either that or they are just trying to argue their point that piracy isn't as bad as people say it is. There has been quite a lot of news recently with people being caught using pirated software. This is the first time I've heard of people going to jail for it recently but I know they have in the past. I know quite a few pirates and yes they would buy the game if they weren't able to get it for free. I know this. I've also visited many many MANY pirating forums. Heck I even use to do it myself. Why would someone pay for soemthign if they can get it for free? While many of the things they download they wouldn't pay for there are also many things that they would. Whether that is a virus scanner, a firewall program or a game such as Crysis.

While the developers are coming at you with cold hard facts and data you can all sit here and say things such as "Well pirates wouldn't buy software..." all you want but the developers are complaining. You can all say "Well that program I pirated from the internetz I wouldn't have bought it anyway so they didn't lose a sale..." but there are people going to jail right now for just what your arguing for. There are many free programs out there that can be used instead that are just as good. Why pirate if you get sued for most likely thousands of dollars by the end?

BumFluff122

Why would someone pay for soemthign if they can get it for free?

BumFluff122

Exactly, with no reprocutions and little chance of any. They need to stop flapping around and come down hard on people. To many, it's like having a cup of tea not breaking the law.

Most of the pirates I know wouldn't buy the game anyways, but then again, me as well as my friends are poor. We just get lucky because a more fortunate friend can get us deals on hardware.

My point is that if they exist, and pirate because they can't afford, I'm guessing more people do that as well.
sdfsdaf

Exactly, with no reprocutions and little chance of any. They need to stop flapping around and come down hard on people. To many, it's like having a cup of tea not breaking the law.

Kez1984

Copies downloaded =/= sales lost

Obviously Crytek needs to get their heads out of the dirt and realize what piracy actually is. Not every copy pirated is going to someone who "would" have bought it... most probably never had the thought cross their mind.

Crytek *really* needs to stop crying about piracy and start asking themselves WHY their games are being pirated and FIX the problem.foxhound_fox

You win again, good sir.

How well did the farcry console games sell?Kez1984

[QUOTE="Kez1984"]How well did the farcry console games sell?foxhound_fox

Still wondering.

Copies downloaded =/= sales lost

Obviously Crytek needs to get their heads out of the dirt and realize what piracy actually is. Not every copy pirated is going to someone who "would" have bought it... most probably never had the thought cross their mind.

Crytek *really* needs to stop crying about piracy and start asking themselves WHY their games are being pirated and FIX the problem.foxhound_fox

Of course not every copy pirated is a sale that was lost, but many would have been. I'd assume around twenty percent of the people who pirated it would have bought it had they not had that option available to them. And I'll tel you WHY their games are being pirated: people won't spend money if they don't have to. As a rule, I buy every game that I enjoy and finish if I pirated it. If all the people who downloaded Crysis and enjoyed it did the same, I'd bet Crytek would have made double or triple the current sales.Thompsonwhore

Wow most of the posts here are pro-piracy, very disappointing. A company has a right to complain over just ONE stolen product let alone thousands! As much as I hate to see Crytek go, I don't blame them. Infinity Ward will be next....

Nope, they don't buy the games if they are not compelled enough to buy it. Most pirates are not like you, most pirates download every game they play and *never* buy games at all. These being people from countries with little to no anti-piracy laws and extremely expensive games.

The only way a game developer can make a game sell well is to make people *want* to buy it. They could hype the game out the ass like 2K Games did with BioShock. They could make a lower budget game with bottom basement system requirements like Stardock and SOASE. Or they could use a unified digital delivery service like VALVe with Steam.

Piracy is never going to go away, there will always be people willing to beat whatever "protection" is put in place just for the fun of it. Most crackers and hackers don't even do it for the money, just for the thrill of beating the system. The best way to avoid piracy is to stop trying to avoid it and just make games people want to buy.

SOASE sold well over what Stardock was expecting in profits... even with their ingenious budget/support strategy.foxhound_fox

I don't get it. I don't see why anyone would first download a pirated copy of the game and then go buy it. What kind of moron does that? Sure maybe if they want to play the multiplayer but then why didn't you just buy the full game in the first place?Ilived

And onto the lost sales angle, I'm sure a lot of game piracy is a matter of "low hanging fruit"--targets of opportunity. If a game became too difficult to obtain for free, then there's a likelihood they'll forgo the game entirely and go for something else.

[QUOTE="Vax45"]

"and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen"

Wrong.

renger6002

exactly. most people who get the pirated version of a game, wouldn't buy it anyways.

They are still stealing it; it cannot be justified if they are playing the full game without paying. What's more is there is a demo for people who want to "test".

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]
Nope, they don't buy the games if they are not compelled enough to buy it. Most pirates are not like you, most pirates download every game they play and *never* buy games at all. These being people from countries with little to no anti-piracy laws and extremely expensive games.

The only way a game developer can make a game sell well is to make people *want* to buy it. They could hype the game out the ass like 2K Games did with BioShock. They could make a lower budget game with bottom basement system requirements like Stardock and SOASE. Or they could use a unified digital delivery service like VALVe with Steam.

Piracy is never going to go away, there will always be people willing to beat whatever "protection" is put in place just for the fun of it. Most crackers and hackers don't even do it for the money, just for the thrill of beating the system. The best way to avoid piracy is to stop trying to avoid it and just make games people want to buy.

SOASE sold well over what Stardock was expecting in profits... even with their ingenious budget/support strategy.PBSnipes

I'm sure the developers of COD4 would agree when they see half of their users are illegally playing online.

Wow most of the posts here are pro-piracy, very disappointing. A company has a right to complain over just ONE stolen product let alone thousands! As much as I hate to see Crytek go, I don't blame them. Infinity Ward will be next....

TheDuffman26

I'm sure the developers of COD4 would agree when they see half of their users are illegally playing online.TheDuffman26

[QUOTE="PBSnipes"][QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]
Nope, they don't buy the games if they are not compelled enough to buy it. Most pirates are not like you, most pirates download every game they play and *never* buy games at all. These being people from countries with little to no anti-piracy laws and extremely expensive games.

The only way a game developer can make a game sell well is to make people *want* to buy it. They could hype the game out the ass like 2K Games did with BioShock. They could make a lower budget game with bottom basement system requirements like Stardock and SOASE. Or they could use a unified digital delivery service like VALVe with Steam.

Piracy is never going to go away, there will always be people willing to beat whatever "protection" is put in place just for the fun of it. Most crackers and hackers don't even do it for the money, just for the thrill of beating the system. The best way to avoid piracy is to stop trying to avoid it and just make games people want to buy.

SOASE sold well over what Stardock was expecting in profits... even with their ingenious budget/support strategy.TheDuffman26

I'm sure the developers of COD4 would agree when they see half of their users are illegally playing online.