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The Problems With Game Copy Protection

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the where-to-begin dept.

Next Generation has a piece looking at the sometimes overly enthusiastic copy protection schemes used in PC games. From the article: "In the late '80s and early '90s, the games industry could do little more than ask nicely that you not pirate their wares. These days, however, copy-protection software is ubiquitous, and any PC game bought at retail is going to have it embedded on the game disc(s) in one form or another. I'm okay with that in theory, but some of these anti-piracy software programs are so potent that they cause issues for legitimate game buyers. One of the leading brands, StarForce, is notorious for not only making it difficult for a small percentage of legitimate users to load up StarForce-protected games, but also for leaving potentially problem-causing StarForce software behind on your PC, even after you've deleted the game it was protecting."

2 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. The only people it affects? by Some_Llama · · Score: 1, Redundant

    The only people that game copy protection effects are those who legally buy the game, it's not hassling anyone else.

  2. Software pirates and publishers are symbiotic. by scottZed · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Maybe my thinking is too Machiavellian, but I think all these companies know that to destroy piracy is to destroy their industry. The fact is, the biggest game players are too poor to afford to feed their insatiable gaming appetite.

    If I was rich enough to buy all my software, I wouldn't be wasting my time on a computer. I'd be off galavanting around the globe getting in adventures and stuff. In order for software to be ultimately successful, people have to actually USE it. The more people use it and like it (starting with the 'ol "early adopters"), the bigger the early and late majority will be. These companies know this (at least the savvy ones do) and, in my mind, copy protection schemes are there to keep this dynamic operating at level that keeps things profitable (i.e. making it hard enough to get enough people to the stores).

    I know I heard that Microsoft turned a blind eye to piracy for this very reason. Companies using schemes like StarForce are blinded by greed, and think pirated copies equate to lost sales in a 1:1 ratio. The backlash against them is as much a corrective effect than rage about messed up computers.