I kølvandet på især Ubisofts udtalelser i fredags, bør du ikke snyde dig selv for et ganske glimrende interview med Valve Softwares Gabe Newell på The Cambridge Student Newspaper. Newell taler med deres Steam-platform i tankerne og siger det i virkeligheden er ganske let. Spilproducenterne bør fokusere på service i langt højere grad og sikre sig at deres produkt er et bedre alternativ en “piratvaren”. Ganske simpelt, men der er tilsyneladende mange i branchen som ikke helt har fanget den endnu.

In general, we think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. For example, 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. Most DRM solutions diminish the value of the product by either directly restricting a customers use or by creating uncertainty.

Our goal is to create greater service value than pirates, and this has been successful enough for us that piracy is basically a non-issue for our company. For example, prior to entering the Russian market, we were told that Russia was a waste of time because everyone would pirate our products. Russia is now about to become our largest market in Europe.

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