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The argument that removing DRM will result in a net increase in sales has no basis in fact based on the evidence at hand. Not only does gaming history show that unprotected games simply lead to more piracy, recent history also demonstrates clearly that simply removing DRM is not the answer to piracy. As we saw in the Scale of Piracy section, many popular games which have no intrusive DRM, such as Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Call of Duty 4 and World of Goo, also have some of the highest piracy rates in 2008. Indeed as I write this, the new Prince of Persia game was released yesterday for PC (December 10, 2008) with absolutely no DRM protection, and a quick look at torrents shows that the cracked version is available, and on two popular torrent links alone there are over 23,000 people downloading the game within the first 24 hours. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear: DRM does not cause piracy, piracy results in DRM.

OnlyOneKenobi wrote:Here is a quote from the article that Rayne posted and it is exactly like I said before, DRM doesn't cause piracy, piracy happens whether DRM is implemented or not.

The argument that removing DRM will result in a net increase in sales has no basis in fact based on the evidence at hand. Not only does gaming history show that unprotected games simply lead to more piracy, recent history also demonstrates clearly that simply removing DRM is not the answer to piracy. As we saw in the Scale of Piracy section, many popular games which have no intrusive DRM, such as Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Call of Duty 4 and World of Goo, also have some of the highest piracy rates in 2008. Indeed as I write this, the new Prince of Persia game was released yesterday for PC (December 10, 2008) with absolutely no DRM protection, and a quick look at torrents shows that the cracked version is available, and on two popular torrent links alone there are over 23,000 people downloading the game within the first 24 hours. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear: DRM does not cause piracy, piracy results in DRM.

OnlyOneKenobi wrote:If you read the full article it will make sense. They implement copy protection like DRM to delay the pirates from getting the cracked version out first. The longer it takes the pirate to crack the game, the more money the developer makes from sales.

They also say that if the pirated game is released before the retail game is out the trend is that the game will be pirated a lot more than if it was the other way around.

OnlyOneKenobi wrote:D3PART3D - limited activations, I suppose, would ensure that the game devs \ distributors could keep tabs on the person who bought the game and make sure that the EULA hasn't been violated.

OnlyOneKenobi wrote:Well, however you look at it, a copy protected game does take longer to pirate than a game which has no copy protection at all. Even if it is 5 minutes longer. Copy protection on Bioshock was considered successful, not because it prevented the game from being pirated, but because it only got cracked 13 days after the retail version was released.

I don't really see why EA chose to go with limited installs, in the end it just doesn't accomplish much. This is pretty much why I would rather buy the console versions since it's straight forward - you put the disc in and you play.

Rayne wrote:PC will lose it's exclusives, it's the easiest way out. Take a good look at 2008, this is the bottom line. DRM is here to stay, so might as well move along.