wraggster
March 19th, 2013, 22:55
Anti-piracy measures such as DRM are more damaging for developers than piracy, Super Meat Boy developer Tommy Refenes has said.
In a new blog post (http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/45684087997/apathy-and-refunds-are-more-dangerous-than-piracy), the Team Meat developer said that disappointing game releases and frustrating DRM policies, such as SimCity with its early server troubles and always-online requirement, could create apathy among consumers, which he called a potential “swan song” for developers.
He went on to say that consumers were much more likely to buy from distributors they trust rather than ones they have been frustrated or slighted by before, with consumer confidence playing a huge role in how they spend money.
Refenes explained that piracy, particularly for digital titles, could not be quantified as there was no way for developers to judge who would have bought their game if illegal file-sharing didn’t exist. He said that this in turn meant that companies who have invested into the research and development of DRM measures could not judge whether they were making the money back they had spent on it.
"Loss due to piracy is an implied loss because it is not a calculable loss,” he said.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/43559/Team-Meat-DRM-worse-for-devs-than-piracy
In a new blog post (http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/45684087997/apathy-and-refunds-are-more-dangerous-than-piracy), the Team Meat developer said that disappointing game releases and frustrating DRM policies, such as SimCity with its early server troubles and always-online requirement, could create apathy among consumers, which he called a potential “swan song” for developers.
He went on to say that consumers were much more likely to buy from distributors they trust rather than ones they have been frustrated or slighted by before, with consumer confidence playing a huge role in how they spend money.
Refenes explained that piracy, particularly for digital titles, could not be quantified as there was no way for developers to judge who would have bought their game if illegal file-sharing didn’t exist. He said that this in turn meant that companies who have invested into the research and development of DRM measures could not judge whether they were making the money back they had spent on it.
"Loss due to piracy is an implied loss because it is not a calculable loss,” he said.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/43559/Team-Meat-DRM-worse-for-devs-than-piracy