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Well, Gabe Newell at least already realized it: "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not

Well, Gabe Newell at least already realized it: "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable."

pea 5y ago
The most insane strategy (which got everyone I know pirating content) is: 1. Create incredibly addictive tv shows 2. Release episodes once a week, with a huge cliffhanger 3. Release in Europe/UK one week behind the US A growth hacker couldn't create a better incentive for piracy if they tried. Anyone know why this is a thing?
user_7832 5y ago
You know, I've heard Gabe's comment several times and part of my earlier comment was based off it. But I actually disagree with the > not a pricing problem part. Probably because I come from a third world country (India), I am extremely sensitive to avoidable costs. If you can get something for free, you can be sure that the average Indian is going to spend effort for it, me included. (This makes more sense in context to how weak the rupee is which can likely be extended to other 3rd world countries but that's another topic.) For example - I have never purchased a music subscription even though I spend a much larger amount on food/rent and could comfortably afford one. Why? Because YouTube is free.
judge2020 5y ago
Exactly; Steam is so successful because they make it easier and quicker to buy games than it is to pirate them, and reward you with features for doing so (achievements, playtime on your profile, screenshot storage). Also, piracy of games specifically is less appealing when you might just download a free crypto miner or custom RAT on the side (remote administration tool).
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Indeed. It's a great service even though it suffers from the same problems as everything based on licensing. People who don't like it must not remember the days where you had to download and apply 5 incremental patches to video games before you could play online. I would buy games on Steam just to get the library management and automatic updates. The truth is most copyright holders offer absolute garbage service to consumers and the only reason they're still in the market is it's illegal to compete with them.
sebazzz 5y ago
Streaming services, especially in Europe, have already shown this. First there was Netflix, and everything was on Netflix. Then a few publishers decided they didn't want to share their pie with Netflix, so they started their own streaming service and pulled their content from Netflix. Next, you have multiple streaming services and surely, piracy goes up and the pirate just throws the pie out the window. Nobody wins.

pea 5y ago

The most insane strategy (which got everyone I know pirating content) is: 1. Create incredibly addictive tv shows 2. Release episodes once a week, with a huge cliffhanger 3. Release in Europe/UK one week behind the US A growth hacker couldn't create a better incentive for piracy if they tried. Anyone know why this is a thing?

user_7832 5y ago

You know, I've heard Gabe's comment several times and part of my earlier comment was based off it. But I actually disagree with the > not a pricing problem part. Probably because I come from a third world country (India), I am extremely sensitive to avoidable costs. If you can get something for free, you can be sure that the average Indian is going to spend effort for it, me included. (This makes more sense in context to how weak the rupee is which can likely be extended to other 3rd world countries but that's another topic.) For example - I have never purchased a music subscription even though I spend a much larger amount on food/rent and could comfortably afford one. Why? Because YouTube is free.

judge2020 5y ago

Exactly; Steam is so successful because they make it easier and quicker to buy games than it is to pirate them, and reward you with features for doing so (achievements, playtime on your profile, screenshot storage). Also, piracy of games specifically is less appealing when you might just download a free crypto miner or custom RAT on the side (remote administration tool).

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Indeed. It's a great service even though it suffers from the same problems as everything based on licensing. People who don't like it must not remember the days where you had to download and apply 5 incremental patches to video games before you could play online. I would buy games on Steam just to get the library management and automatic updates. The truth is most copyright holders offer absolute garbage service to consumers and the only reason they're still in the market is it's illegal to compete with them.

sebazzz 5y ago

Streaming services, especially in Europe, have already shown this. First there was Netflix, and everything was on Netflix. Then a few publishers decided they didn't want to share their pie with Netflix, so they started their own streaming service and pulled their content from Netflix. Next, you have multiple streaming services and surely, piracy goes up and the pirate just throws the pie out the window. Nobody wins.