Piracy is still a huge problem for PC gaming, where, in some markets, the piracy rates are upwards of 90%. In a recent interview with GameSpot, DICE’s Karl Magnus-Troedsson said that piracy didn’t affect the Battlefield series because the games require an online connection and account, but that doesn’t mean the studio has no experience with piracy. Troedsson said:

“So far, Battlefield has been unaffected by it because we have a multiplayer online game where you need to be logged in, so we haven’t had any huge problems with it. We’ve had other titles that have been hit hard by it, so piracy is still a problem.”

However, when it comes to a solution for piracy, DICE and Troedsson aren’t big believers in the DRM solutions that some publishers have used, publishers like Ubisoft which require PCs to have a constant connection to a DRM server.

“I’m not advocating draconian DRM solutions. I don’t believe that’s the best way to do it. I’d rather have people buy our games, direct to consumer through different e-tailer solutions.”

Piracy has driven many PC-only developers, like DICE, to create their games for consoles as well, as a way of justifying the high cost of game development where games tend to cost upwards of $20 million to develop. Unless it’s an MMO, it’s very hard for a PC-only game with that kind of budget to return the investment if 90% of players pirate the game.

Link: http://bf3blog.com/2011/09/dice-battlefield-is-unaffected-by-piracy-drm-isnt-the-solution/

350+ views but no post???

Very odd...

There isn't much to say other than good for DICE that they aren't using dumb DRM "solutions".

The biggest problem with DRM that publishers are doing is by targeting the pirates though hurting the paying customers with nasty drm solutions isn't going to get them to stop pirating.

No drm is a start. You may say then more people will pirate the game? They are going to pirate the game drm or no drm so don't even bother and you might gain some sales from removing all that nasty stuff. Take Witcher 2, no drm and they seem to be doing fine with strong sales.

Also you have the price of games. DD should be the place to experiment different pricing ideas for titles, and if you are a multiplayer title like call of duty but have a small single player experience then that developer should try a pricing scheme like 15 dollars for single player only, 15 dollars for multiplayer only, 30 combined. Games like call of duty should only cost 30 dollars, while games like Skyrim and GTA games should be the ones priced at 60 dollars.