MMOs are the future of games exactly because the server component cannot be pirated.
The man speaks truth. Look at China's game industry, where it is virtually impossible to buy games because folks stole them so much the industry gave up trying to sell them. Instead, everything is a "free-to-play" online game, with monetization through in-game purchases to get through the heaping helping of sucky grind added to the base game. US gamers are voting for this future every day with their purchasing habits -- namely, stealing anything that isn't nailed down while simultaneously making Blizzard and Zynga rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
I'm not in games but I do desktop software and web apps. It seems hilarious to me these days, but I used to actually worry mildly about piracy of my application. Three of the top ten search suggestions Google gives (which are created from popular search terms) for my product's name are incitements to theft, even in my decidedly non-technical niche.
Hah, those were the days. Now I sell SaaS. And just like that, poof, piracy vanishes from my radar.
I think that you mean it is virtually impossible to buy non-pirated games. The same goes for movies here: There are lots of them everywhere, but they are all pirated.
The man speaks truth. Look at China's game industry, where it is virtually impossible to buy games because folks stole them so much the industry gave up trying to sell them. Instead, everything is a "free-to-play" online game, with monetization through in-game purchases to get through the heaping helping of sucky grind added to the base game. US gamers are voting for this future every day with their purchasing habits -- namely, stealing anything that isn't nailed down while simultaneously making Blizzard and Zynga rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
I'm not in games but I do desktop software and web apps. It seems hilarious to me these days, but I used to actually worry mildly about piracy of my application. Three of the top ten search suggestions Google gives (which are created from popular search terms) for my product's name are incitements to theft, even in my decidedly non-technical niche.
Hah, those were the days. Now I sell SaaS. And just like that, poof, piracy vanishes from my radar.