A Portrait of the UK Game Pirate

Next Generation has a report up on a British study that indicates something like 84 percent of 15 to 18 year olds pirate video games in Britain. 72 percent of those folks pirate games because they can't wait for the UK releases. From the article: "This study shows very clearly the drivers behind videogame piracy...Most respondents who have and will continue to illegally download games are young males, between 15 and 19 years old. They feel videogames are too expensive and resent the long wait for many games released in the US or in Asia before the UK. With a high level of computer literacy, it's easy for them to find a game online and download it. Their friends all do it and why shouldn't they?"

Comments

Those aren't the REAL reason.

[defkkon]

I'm sure the late release dates is one reason. I mean, I live in Canada, so I don't have to worry about that. I'm sure the late release dates are annoying as hell.

I can also believe that the high prices are a factor. ONE factor.

The real reason. The BASE reason is because its free and easy. You could charge $15 for every game. You know what? The people would still pirate. I can buy CDs for $9.99 off of iTunes now. Do I? Well... I'll leave that up to your imagination. The key here is that FREE is always better that having to pay something. I don't care if the release dates are pushed back and the price is sky-high - free is always best.

I used to play video games...

[tom8658]

They feel videogames are too expensive and resent the long wait for many games released in the US or in Asia before the UK.

... and that would be why I stopped. My job doesn't pay me near enough that I can afford to buy a USD40-50 game more than once or twice a year, and no game (except Alpha Centauri and Halo) can keep me entertained for more than a few weeks... I just can't replay the damn things. If I want to play something, my options are:

1. Don't buy the game
2. Pirate the game via bittorrent
3. Pirate the game via my friend and a DVD-R drive

Re:Not surprising

[guaigean]

Actually, it can have more to do with laws. IIRC, when Fallout/Fallout 2 were released, the US version was allowed to have children NPC's (which, by your choice you could kill). The UK, I believe, had laws against children in video games like that, and therefore all the killable child NPC's had to be removed and replaced. It's a small example, but enough minor variations in law can add up to months of delays.