The Piracy Problem

The game industry – particularly the console game industry – is on the verge of squaring off with those who created mod chips that allow people to play copied games, according to this Boston Globe column.

The piece discusses the not-so-underground movement of high-tech warriors who have found ways to make their video game hardware play games that it shouldn't. This is exactly the type of digital dilemma has plagued the entertainment industry for the last five years (and that's not taking into account the physical piracy that has concerned the Big Three – games, music, and movies – for much longer than that).

I'm hoping this is a Red Herring, a throwaway column, and not the beginning of an all-out assault on the people who make games do what they aren't supposed to do.

Before we get started though, we need to toss out a few assumptions.

Let's forget the argument that nobody should be forced to buy a piece of hardware or software that restricts what you can do. Cars aren't manufactured to go only the speed limit. Instead, we punish those who break the law. If my car isn't locked down, then my game console shouldn't be locked down.

We also need to overlook the claim that the game industry loses about $3 billion a year to piracy. As much as I like the folks at the Entertainment Software Association – they have been very good to me over the years – there is no way to quantify that number. Plus, I'd like to add in the revenue that was made on games like Counter-Strike, which were created by players who were bored with Half-Life.

If developers really want to solve this problem, there is a very simple road map:

They need to find a way to squeeze new revenues from the people who create add-ons. The game industry is very good at that. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo already take a loss on the hardware, and make that up by selling software. How much better would it be for them to create a basic box, and open up the tools to players to allow them to supercharge the machine?

Once games go online, you can continue to generate revenues by incorporating new hacks into the existing game. Developers will want players to create hacks so that they stay in the game worlds longer – whether that world is John Madden Football or Star Wars Galaxies.

The alternative to courting these hackers is trying to take them head-on, and that would be a mistake because technology moves far quicker than the law.

And, attacking your customers is just bad business.