Game Copyright Protection Frustrations, Part 2

Another option to DRM presents itself. This tactic, however, puts the responsibility back in the hands of the customer. If the industry really wanted to end pirating of their games, they should move away from such hard solutions like software protections. They would be better served by a soft approach. This tactic involves a little bit social education. The more cynical might call it propaganda, though it does not rely on the stretching of truth, or the outright deceptions that are so common in many forms of advertising.

What this tactic involves is making public the damage that pirating does, not only to the companies, but to the consumer, and the industry in general. Showing the creators of the games on TV talking about how much pirating hurts their art. Show the trends of pirating, and how it relates to the numbers of sales of the game. Show how that trend relates to the relative amount of money spent on games. Start websites discussing the problem. Get spots before movies talking about how bad pirating is. Show how pirating has affected other industries.

Most importantly, however, get the fan community involved. Every large game company has fans that are loyal. Tap into that loyalty. Instead of pushing them away by putting in protections, pull them in. Have the heads of the company, or more importantly, the developers of the games, go on the forums and ask for the fan's aid in combating piracy. This will not only increase loyalty, but also make those who would otherwise get a pirated game think about saving up, as they would then feel a sort of kinship with the game developers. It makes the company less of a monstrous entity, and more of a community. Then ask those fans to help out by being watchdogs, letting the company know of places where the games are being pirated.

Just as importantly, make sure those fans know that the company is puting trust into the hands of the customer. Clearly state in the advertisements that there will be no software protections that will be put into the game. Let them know that there will be extra benefits that will be added to the game as time goes on, support for the game will not be dropped. Explain how continued pirating would make continuing support fiscally unfeasible. This will make the fans more likely encourage their friends not to pirate. If pirating continues, then drop support for the game, making clear that pirating was the culprit. By shifting the negative attitude from the game companies to the pirates, the pirates will lose the popular support. This will also serve to improve the image of the gaming industry, as will as reduce the number of people willing to pirate games.

Right now, the issue of copyright protections on games is hurting the image of gaming companies. They seem like big corporations out only for an extra buck. Brand loyalty is slipping, as fans cease to identify with the company that is producing the game. If pirating is to lose ground, this image has to change. Otherwise, the unending war between potential customer and creator of software will eventually drag the industry down.