It started with Cain and Abel, gravitated to Cowboys and Indians, morphed into Cops and Robbers, was popularized into Allies and Axis (that one may need some definite articles) and finally mutated to become Games Developers and Somalians. Indeed, the age old conflict of protagonist and antagonist migrated to the games industry some years ago, and has continued to fester and grow ever since (for those of you still struggling to follow – legitimately enough, at that - I am referring to piracy).
Piracy is, simply put, the act of using game files acquired from another person to play the game without actually buying it. It is hard to believe, then, that the people who make the games aren’t terribly thrilled about the end-user’s ability to do this, and began to introduce counter-Somalian measures. From key codes to online registration, developers do a lot to try and keep their precious intellectual property safe. The problem, however, lies in the cycle which this creates:
- People pirate games
- Developer creates DRM (Digital Resource Management) to try to combat piracy
- People get around DRM and continue to pirate
- Developers create more hardcore DRM to try and combat piracy
- Legitimate users who actually buy the game get screwed around because they have to jump through hoops to actually play their damned game due to DRM
- Pirates continue to overcome DRM and pirate
- Legitimate users get pissed off and pirate the game out of spite
- Developers create… you get the idea
And it is in that cycle that the games industry finds itself in now. However, amongst a dank cesspool of failure, mutual idiocy and Somalians, one paragon of games development stands tall: Hail to Blizzard!
In my opinion, Blizzard have (intentionally or not) happened upon the most effective form of DRM to date. Allow me to elaborate:
To play Starcraft 2, one must first have a Blizzard account. Once you have a Blizzard account, you register the Starcraft 2 key code which you bought, which allows you to log in to Starcraft 2 with your Blizzard account. Once logged in you can play the game.
Now, Starcraft 2 remains as susceptible to cracking and piracy as any other, the only problem is that is you pirate Starcraft you can only play the singleplayer, while you will be denied multiplayer access. And that is the crux of the issue. The singleplayer campaign for Starcraft 2 was certainly ok, maybe even very ok, but the game really gets good when you play the multiplayer.
Positive reinforcement, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t make your legitimate buyers bend over backwards trying to play your game, reward them.
The interesting thing to note is that Blizzard rewards you without really rewarding you at all – all it does is give you the framework with which you can enjoy their game. They provide a pretty efficient 7-tiered league and ladder system that lets you work towards goals while being pitted against rivals of a similar skill level to you, but it is only when someone else clicks the ‘Find Match’ button that the game really begins to be enjoyable (read: addictive).
Unfortunately, Starcraft 2’s anti-piracy success was due to a number of specific factors which I outlined above, and as such the same formula cannot be applied to say, a singleplayer RPG. The good news is that we are beginning to see positive reinforcement orientated incentives being offered to users who legitimately buy the game (the Cerberus Network from Mass Effect 2, which allows you to download additional content with codes provided at your initial purchase, is a good example of this). Indeed, incentives such as the Cerberus Network are far from perfect, but they will become more refined as time goes on, and more and more developers begin to catch on.
My conclusion? DRM will only perpetuate piracy, and while developers may not philosophically regard the burden to act against piracy to be upon them, reality dictates a different tune. The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel - developers such as Blizzard have proved that for us.
Duncan
Out
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