170°

Sims 3 Piracy Rate Outpacing Spore's

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The amount of users downloading The Sims 3 from torrent sites indicates that the title's long-term piracy rate could top that of Spore, the most pirated title of 2008.

The EA PC title, which isn't due for release until June 2 in the States, was leaked to torrent sites two weeks ahead of its planned launch. And according to BigChampagne, a company that monitors file sharing, it was downloaded at least 180,000 times between May 18 and May 21.

That figure outpaces the 400,000 illegal downloads of Spore over three weeks, reports Bloomberg, presumably referring to the period leading up to the title's release last year. Spore went on to be illegally downloaded some 1.7 million times during the last three months of 2008.
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bloomberg.com

[via edge-online.com]
Columbo - moderator
Published: 177 days 2 hours ago | News | PC
 
 

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dirthurts - 177 days 1 hour ago
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1 - .
This is what is killing PC gaming.
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Sarick - 177 days 1 hour ago
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1.1 - You'd think
With all these leaks going the DEVs would crack down on the places where data can be stolen.

How had can it be secure your offices and keep employees from stealing code. Seriously, These movie studios and game companies must have walk in all you can download workstations open for anyone that gets in the building.

If they're serious about their stuff not being pirated early SECURE the weak links!

Oh, and I didn't agree or disagree with 1.0. Just commenting on how if it really is killing them then why aren't they securing stuff so it isn't leaked early.
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steve30x - 177 days ago
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1.2 -
|Whats killing PC gaming is DRM. I cant see what the big hoo haa is all about anyway. They will make millions out of this game and I doubt they will lose a cent. Just like Resident evil sold 5 million but they still cried over piracy. They easily made 50+ million out of that game and Sims 3 will make a hell of a lot more money because the game has a big following. These people who cry piracy need to get over themselves.
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Zinc - 177 days ago
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1.3 -
Spore sold over 2 million units, while the console exclusive The Force Unleashed sold around 1.5 million. Crysis, a PC only exclusive sold well over a 1 million units... Both Spore and Crysis were pirated to hell and yet they were still commercial hits, that created generous profits for their makers and distributors. If piracy is such a dream stealer and heart-breaker, than why can they still do that? The answer is, pirates fall into 3 categories: Those who would never buy the game they pirate, those who might eventually down the line own a legitimate copy, and those who tend to buy the titles when they get good deals or because they wish to, to support the developer.

Companies are more likely to lose money on the people who resell used copies or give/trade old games with friends and family.(in fact this happens with console games all the time, and they know it) They tried doing away with the reselling aspect when they started requiring serial codes/cd keys, and of course with services like Steam, it is virtually impossible to trade. This has created a vacuum in the gaming world, notably on the PC side of things. If you could go to your reseller of choice and pick up a copy of whatever floats your boat, for half the price, many people would, just like they do with console games.

But, most stores that resell games, have either no PC section, or a ghetto PC section with PC section versions of crack dealers and chicken heads.

What is killing the PC market, is not the market, it's the mindset.

Just like the music industry has backed off and has started almost embracing this trend, so perhaps, should the gaming industry.

Or not, they can do what they like.
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El_Colombiano - 176 days 23 hours ago
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1.4 -
THAT, right above me, is the single most smartest post I have ever seen on N4G. I applaud you man.
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ChampIDC - 176 days 23 hours ago
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1.5 -
Zinc, you hit the nail on the head.

Right now, the best gaming model on PC is the one Valve uses. They don't care if you pirate their games, because you miss out on the multiplayer experience.

If companies want to stop piracy, they need to work on a creative way to make people want to buy their games.
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FantasyStar - 176 days 21 hours ago
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1.6 -
Word. Really now. I'm not going to say that piracy is blown out of proportion nor that it's not justified because that's doing a disservice to the indie-devs that can't break even due to the already-harsh PC climate. I keep saying this and the music industry has already taken notice: find a new business model. One that works for consumers and publishers.
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jkashuba07 - 176 days 21 hours ago
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1.7 - Genius
Zinc you are absolutely right!
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evrfighter - 176 days 21 hours ago
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1.8 -
@ zinc

a quality post. Much needed here @ n4g.
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IdleLeeSiuLung - 176 days 19 hours ago
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1.9 -
One thing to keep in mind is risk to reward ratio. There are certainly many games that make huge profits, but there are far more games that fail, even great games. If the risk to reward ration is too high, you might find fewer large investment into games.

@zinc
You got some good points, but I would also like to add that a used games was initially a new game sold at a profit to the publisher/developer. Devs at least at some point got their cut. There are also ways to combat used games sales as well, like including one time downloadable items. Who knows, in the future we might get a key code to distinguish new game supporters over used game purchaser with some advantages.

In contrast a pirated game never benefitted the developer or the publisher, but increases support cost on servers (for multiplayer games) and technical phone support.
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Mr Face Creamer - 177 days 1 hour ago
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2 - ...
God dammit Charlie.
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Sarick - 177 days 1 hour ago
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3 - So much for that.
Like, really they removed the DRM. One excuse why pirates said they pirated stuff was because excessive DRM.

So much for that logic.
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nikola987 - 177 days 1 hour ago
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3.1 -
why would I wait for two full weeks for this game when I can just download it and play it, it has nothing to do with DRM.
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3.2 LastDance | 177 days ago - deleted by mod -
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Sarick - 176 days 16 hours ago
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3.3 - I agree sorta
Your right why would you wait two weeks. This leads back to my first comment 1.1.

The games shouldn't have been leaked in the first place. I think the most likely candidates for leaks in the media. The DEVs ship out the game for reviews a few weeks before release.
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Elven6 - 177 days 1 hour ago
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4 -
The thing with the Sims is 10 years later it wills till be topping the NPD charts. I'd wait for sales numbers before saying piracy is really going to kill this game. Given the huge success of previous Sims titles I doubt it, but then again anything can happen!
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dreamhunk - 177 days ago
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5 -
On consoles games get pirated alot faster than pc games do. Yea that's a inside job because consoles already have a martket for console games.
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DirtyLary - 177 days ago
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6 -
Never understood the draw of this game.

You sit in front of a pc watching your toon sit in front of a pc.

go figure.
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dreamhunk - 177 days ago
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6.1 -
girls love it like playing hosue i guess lol
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Perjoss - 177 days ago
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7 -
this is not very acurate, the game is not out yet, so even the people that will be buying the game want an early taste so they download it. Its still piracy i guess but people dont feel like thieves if they intend to hand over the cash IF they actually like the game.

edit: and Spore was one of those games that many people had no clue if they would like it or not, and didnt is have some dumb DRM on it?
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wirapuru - 177 days ago
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8 -
The most absurdly sold game of all times is going to be more pirated than that newcomer which was a sad disappointment last year..... O'Reilly?

'-_-
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JohnnyMann420 - 176 days 23 hours ago
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8.1 -
orly?

lol
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JohnnyMann420 - 176 days 23 hours ago
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9 - But the leaked version isn't the full game....
It's missing a map, some items and there are bugs.

Mind you, it's completely playable...but they can't consider this as a true leak if the game that was leaked isn't the same as the final released version.....can they?
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Scarfy - 176 days 23 hours ago
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9.1 -
If that's true, then it's obvious how this game got onto the torrent sites... ;)
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Ceekay - 176 days 23 hours ago
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10 -
There will probably be many people getting mail from lawyers. lol

The game will be astronomically expensive for them.
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El_Colombiano - 176 days 23 hours ago
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11 -
A pirated game doesn't always mean a lost profit guys.
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Pussgurkan - 176 days 23 hours ago
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12 - Blahalabala
The people pirating The Sims(or any game) would never have bought it anyway. These big corporate companies believe that 180,000 illegal downloads equals 180,000 copies that could have been sold, which is never the case.

Ppl that play The Sims dont even know what torrenting means! So give us a break!

And stop the "piracy killing pc games"... its does not! Its all a corporate lie!
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mirroredderorrim - 176 days 22 hours ago
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13 - @1.3
We all could use a little "zinc" in our diets. ;B
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Bubble up!
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LorD - 176 days 22 hours ago
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14 -
I announced at work that I was going to head out during lunch and buy spore. I had bought on the hype and thought the game was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

At that point, a coworker offered me the pirated version.

I took it home, installed it, realized the game was absolute crap with zero replay value other than making junk "look" different.

I'm so glad I was able to save the $50 and spend it on another game I enjoyed more.

Its not pirating thats killing the PC market, its the failed business model and DRM
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mirroredderorrim - 176 days 22 hours ago
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15 - @LorD
"I took it home, installed it, realized the game was absolute crap with zero replay value other than making junk "look" different."

I honestly believe that you are the kind of person they want to sucker into getting the game, which you could fall into two categories as well!

1)A guy who buys a game, does not enjoy it, but also does not take it back for a refund.

or

2)A guy who thinks the game is crap, knows it's crap and returns it, for a full refund or an exchange for a more exciting product from another developer/publisher.

I'm betting you're along the lines of the later(?)
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LorD - 176 days 22 hours ago
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15.1 -
refund or exchanges for opened games??

I've never heard of that, other than "its defective, here's another copy".

As a videogame developer, I like to think I made very informed game buying decisions. ;)
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El_Colombiano - 176 days 22 hours ago
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15.2 -
You can't return opened games.
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bjornbear - 176 days 22 hours ago
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16 - The more pirated it gets
The bigger the sales will be! =D Thats what i predict anyway...
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kevnb - 176 days 22 hours ago
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17 - well I wouldnt buy a sims game
if anything id download it, play it for 3 hours then delete it.
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mirroredderorrim - 176 days 21 hours ago
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18 - @15.1/15.2"You can't return opened games."
I don't know. Never had to because I don't trade my games or sell them or have problems with any games I have.

I make sure what I buy is what I like. In fact, I still have sealed copies of games from the PS1 era.

Wild Arms, Legend of Dragoon, Castlevania: SOTN, Megaman X4, Suikoden, Final Fantasy VII (all black label) and some more I don't care to type out.

My point is, I guess they don't allow refunds or trades for games because they can be copied and such.

Either way, switch the retailer with offsetting the purchase by selling via: Ebay/Amazon and I'm sure you can understand what I mean.
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