Conan Exiles launches without DRM: Did it hurt or help the game's release?

When Conan Exiles released a patch a few days after launching their barbarian-themed survival game, eagle eyed players noticed that the title was just a little light on DRM protection. But could that mistake have actually helped the game?

[Injusticewarrior]

Pirates are not and will never be "customers".
Publishers need to stop thinking that software pirates would have ever bought the game to begin with.
If anything, they might really like the game and maybe buy it to get updates, or give positive word of mouth. At best.

[DarkZane]

You're wrong, I use piracy as a way to demo the game now. If I like it, I buy it on Steam or on consoles (if my PC can't run the game properly) and if I don't like it, I delete it.

[Injusticewarrior]

"If anything, they might really like the game and maybe buy it to get updates, or give positive word of mouth. At best."
So you "demo" it and if you like it buy it. Kinda what I said no?

they post min/max for pc specs.
There are also places to rent console games.
Stealing is stealing, can't justify it.
Cheers mate.

Ps. had a dreamcast and tons of games, all on cdr. They stoped making games. So I can relate, kind of. Older now, error of my ways sort of thing.

[TheOptimist]

There is a refund button on Steam, you can test out a game if it runs properly or not an return it within 2 hours (Enough to test a game). Stop giving lame excuses to justify piracy.

[Rachel_Alucard]

@specimen

You can either rely on the developer to give you their word it will run fine or you can skip the BS and test it out first and hand messing with settings to see directly what works. Renting is not an option on PC unless you wanna reword it to the act of throwing money down and refunding it within the 2 hours thing. Darkzane is right in that many pirates do in fact purchase games after they have performed the act. It is mathematically impossible to say that none of them do. The idea that someone likes the idea of being in control jumps over peoples heads.

@TheOptimist
What about games that aren't sold through steam? Besides, wouldn't refunding a game after you've tested or played it be the same as just pirating it and never buying it because it was bad? The only difference with refunds is you're on a time limit which affects many games that take more than 2 hours and you have to throw money into the wild for a bit.