Bohemia Interactive Boss Claims Crazy Piracy Numbers

[Andy Chalk]

Bohemia Interactive Boss Claims Crazy Piracy Numbers

The CEO of Arma studio Bohemia Interactive says that for every three legitimate customers playing its games online, there are 100 attempts to play with a pirated copy.

Bohemia Interactive takes an unusual approach to anti-piracy measures. It uses a system it calls DEGRADE to mess with illegitimate copies of its games; in the Arma [http://www.amazon.com/Arma-2-Combined-Operations-Pc/dp/B003JZNDN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321634959&sr=8-1] series, for instance, weapons in pirated copies have lower accuracy and they occasionally turn into birds with the words, "Good birds do not fly away from this game, you have only yourself to blame."

In an interview with PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/17/interview-bohemia-interactives-ceo-on-fighting-piracy-creative-drm/], Bohemia Interactive CEO Marek ?paněl acknowledged that there's really no way to tell how effective that system is compared to more conventional DRM. He did, however, make a claim about piracy numbers based on multiplayer statistics that, at first glance, is nothing short of astonishing.

"Our statistics from multiplayer show that for every three legitimate buyers playing their game in multiplayer, there are 100 [failed] attempts to play with a pirated version," he said. "This indicates that piracy is an extremely widespread problem on PC, and it's also really worrying for us as a mid-sized, independent, PC-oriented developer. We do not have any such data for single-player, but I'm afraid there the ratio of pirates to legitimate gamers is undoubtedly much worse."

A 3-to-100 ratio is obscene, but ?paněl's statement is both vague and a little misleading. Is that one guy trying to connect 100 times? Ten guys going ten times? There's no way to tell - or if there is, he's not saying - but it's not reasonable to think that people people will try once, fail and then give up. Piracy is bad, yes, but I have a hard time believing it's that bad.


Permalink

 

[erztez]

Uhm...I call bullshit.
Options:
1. He's lying
2. He's stupid
3. It's one guy who let reconnect on and went to sleep

 

[TheScottishFella]

To be fair Arma hasn't go the greatest of numbers in players so I don't think it is this high.

 

[uppitycracker]

Very, extremely misleading. There is absolutely no way to verify just how many of those failed connections are the result of multiple pirates, a single pirate attempting to create a crack, or (I bet they never thought of this) legitimate customers that had issues with the online verification process. I love it when people use numbers to say whatever they want them to say.

 

[BlindedHunter]

Agreed that they're probably playing up the numbers a little, but I'd still wager it is a significant problem. You try 5 times, not 100 times.
Not to mention that those people represented by the "3" probably connect more than once in their lifetime of playing.

 

[Waaghpowa]

There's no way that these pirates are attempting playing the game once and giving up. If it was that easy to stop them they probably wouldn't exist anymore.

 

[erztez]

Very, extremely misleading. There is absolutely no way to verify just how many of those failed connections are the result of multiple pirates, a single pirate attempting to create a crack, or (I bet they never thought of this) legitimate customers that had issues with the online verification process. I love it when people use numbers to say whatever they want them to say.

Indeed.
Come to think about it, I have a new idea for "accurate" piracy numbers.

Exec. 1: Wohoo! We sold 1000000 copies of Modern Warfare 35
Exec. 2: Oh my god, that's horrible, the pirates are killing us!
1: Huh?
2: We sold 1000000 copies, but there are 7000000000 people on the planet! That means 6999000000 people stole our game! We need more DRM!
1: What? That doesn't make any sense!
CEO: Shut up, Bob, you're fired. Now Frank, talk to me about new DRM systems.

Now, remember, this hypothetical dialogue relies on the fact that there's at least one executive within any gaming company with 2 working brain cells. Reality may disagree.

 

[uppitycracker]

Very, extremely misleading. There is absolutely no way to verify just how many of those failed connections are the result of multiple pirates, a single pirate attempting to create a crack, or (I bet they never thought of this) legitimate customers that had issues with the online verification process. I love it when people use numbers to say whatever they want them to say.

Indeed.
Come to think about it, I have a new idea for "accurate" piracy numbers.

Exec. 1: Wohoo! We sold 1000000 copies of Modern Warfare 35
Exec. 2: Oh my god, that's horrible, the pirates are killing us!
1: Huh?
2: We sold 1000000 copies, but there are 7000000000 people on the planet! That means 6999000000 people stole our game! We need more DRM!
1: What? That doesn't make any sense!
CEO: Shut up, Bob, you're fired. Now Frank, talk to me about new DRM systems.

Now, remember, this hypothetical dialogue relies on the fact that there's at least one executive within any gaming company with 2 working brain cells. Reality may disagree.

Yeah, I'm sure reality would disagree, and say at least one is a conservative number


Also, dear escapist... I already own skyrim. Seeing that pop up every time i change screens does nothing for me, as buying it again isn't possible on steam....

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

He stated there were "100 attempts" to play with a pirated version. He may not have said exactly how many people contributed to that 100:3 ratio for pirated copies, probably because they don't know. He never said there were 100 people with pirated copies to every 3 people with a purchased copy. It's all about how you read that statement and apparantly people are thinking it makes the guy sound like either some kind of idiot or bullshitter. He provided actual facts, sure more information is needed in order to fully support his point, but he still has a very valid argument; piracy is a big problem.

 

[uppitycracker]

He stated there were "100 attempts" to play with a pirated version. He may not have said exactly how many people contributed to that 100:3 ratio for pirated copies, probably because they don't know. He never said there were 100 people with pirated copies to every 3 people with a purchased copy. It's all about how you read that statement and apparantly people are thinking it makes the guy sound like either some kind of idiot or bullshitter. He provided actualy facts, sure more information is needed in order to fully support his point, but he still has a very valid argument; piracy is a big problem.

It's taken into context with the rest of what he says.

"We do not have any such data for single-player, but I'm afraid there the ratio of pirates to legitimate gamers is undoubtedly much worse."

That basically says "The 100:3 ratio is individual pirates, not attempts".

 

[Icehearted]

First of all I've never even heard of Arma, so it can't be that big
Second of all perhaps he confused pirated and used, people in his industry seem to be doing a lot of that lately
Third and finally, No, I really really don't even know anyone that's ever heard of Arma

This attention = free advertising, and now that at least I've heard of Arma, I guess his advertising paid off, except I know what to avoid now.

 

[ph0b0s123]

My question is, do you even have to have a pirated copy of the game to be part of these stats? Do people just trying to access the server in search of vulnerabilities also get counted? If I look at the amount of port scans hitting my ISP router, it's a lot.

If it is just the amount of connections hitting the server IP, with the right port number, that don't have valid game credentials, then a lot of those could easily be people who are not even trying to play the game, but doing port scans.

 

[omicron1]

People who try and fail to play a pirated game aren't going to keep banging their heads against that wall. I see many ways to interpret this data:
1. Pirates try a lot of games. Casual players may download arma 2 on a lark, try it, fail, and leave. These are not potential customers.
2. A few people might be trying many times to connect - see also, crack makers. Assuming it's impossible to break this drm, chances are various groups will still keep trying.
3. Your authentication system has issues.
4. Foreign "pirates" - eg Russia - who have no alternative method of procurement. These are probably a major part of the issue.

I simply refuse to believe that a niche game - which generally has an enthusiastic, loyal fanbase - is outnumbered 33-to-1 by casual pirates. Look beyond the raw data, Bohemia. Look beyond.

 

[Bobzer77]

First of all I've never even heard of Arma, so it can't be that big

Okie-dokie, Mr.High Opinion of Ones Self.

 

[Xanthious]

I call bullshit. There's no way 3 people paid for their game.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Very, extremely misleading. There is absolutely no way to verify just how many of those failed connections are the result of multiple pirates, a single pirate attempting to create a crack, or (I bet they never thought of this) legitimate customers that had issues with the online verification process. I love it when people use numbers to say whatever they want them to say.

this

hackers do not give up easily

those 100 attempts easily could be from 5 different guys getting pissed off at not using/getting the right way to do it.