EA Admits File-Sharing Does Not Equal Lost Sales

Gamasutra has the story. Mariam Sughayer of EA's corporate communications department states:

Stepping aside from the whole issue of DRM, people need to recognize that every BitTorrent download doesn’t represent a successful copy of a game, let alone a lost sale. [emphasis mine]

Dan Hewitt, the Entertainment Software Association's senior director of communications agreed:

It’s important to remember that it’s not a one-for-one equation. Our calculation isn’t such that we say that every game that’s been stolen [he means downloaded] is a sale loss." [emphasis mine]

This comes on the heels of TorrentFreak's analysis claiming that Spore has been downloaded from bittorrent file-sharing networks more than half a million times. Last week, EA reported that Spore had sold 1 million copies. Now, EA is trying to downplay the record number of Spore downloads.

I have to ask: EA, if a downloaded copy of Spore doesn't necessarily equate to a lost sale, what is the point of your DRM? Are your DRM schemes simply to stop people who wouldn't have bought your games from playing them? That's the only conclusion I can draw, since we can see that your inclusion of SecuROM did not stop people from pirating the game.

Piracy of Spore Extraordinarily High

According to Forbes magazine, Spore has been shared via bittorrent clients at an increasingly faster rate than other triple-A titles have been in the past:

As of Thursday [9/11/2008] afternoon, "Spore" had been illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks using BitTorrent peer-to-peer transfer 171,402 times since Sept. 1, according to Big Champagne, a peer-to-peer research firm. That's hardly a record: a popular game often hits those kinds of six-figure piracy numbers, says Big Champagne Chief Executive Eric Garland.

But not usually so quickly. In just the 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday, illegal downloaders snagged more than 35,000 copies, and, as of Thursday evening, that rate of downloads was still accelerating. "The numbers are extraordinary," Garland says. "This is a very high level of torrent activity even for an immensely popular game title."

TorrentFreak reported last Saturday that Spore had been downloaded more than 500,000 times, and at this current rate the game is likely to earn the title "Most Pirated Game Ever" within a matter of weeks.

EA can't be this stupid. They have to know that their use of SecuROM DRM schemes are not going to stop people from pirating the game. In fact, the Forbes article reveals that Spore was pirated a full three days before it was launched on September 4th, 2008.

But this may not be about piracy at all -- it may be about ending the second-hand market through technological means.

Spore's DRM Backfires

This is very interesting. I wrote before that I decided against buying Spore because of the SecuROM DRM scheme being implemented, and it looks like I wasn't alone in that decision. As of 9:04 AM this morning, there are 1,272 one star reviews on Amazon for Spore.

Reviewer Brian Fox wrote:

DRM is a show stopper. I doubt this game will work for me after a few years given my habit of new hardware purchases and system snapshots. Like others have said, this game is for rent not sale.

Reviewer Fox News Sucks wrote:

The DRM for the game utilizes securom which is essentially a virus that installs itself without warning when you install the game. There is no way to completely remove it without reformatting and it is constantly running in the background if not removed. Sucking up computer resources.

It also is overpriced. This is actually a RENTAL, not a bought game because it only lets you install 3 times. If you install over 3 times then you must call EA customer support and beg them to let you play the game you bought. Did I mention the call is not free? If you live outside the U.S. it will be a very expensive call.

Reviewer N. Bolten wrote:

I was looking to buy the ultra-nerdy $80 package at release... no more now that I've learned of the crippling DRM. A message to EA: if you give your customers what they pay for, they're *not* going to pirate (they've already proven they will buy the game). Games are cracked *before* release, so that is not something you can avoid. Stop screwing your customers under the guise of protecting your copyrights and you'll get my cash. Until then I'll be happy playing games released by people who don't punish me like I've done something wrong for forking over $50-$80.

Further reading -- this blog post by a commenter at the Quarter to Three forums puts the issue into perspective nicely. Author peterb makes a point worth repeating; it's essentially what Brad Wardell of Stardock has been saying all along.

The damnable thing about Spore’s DRM is that it gives up some of the platform’s few advantages for…what, exactly? Is protecting yourself against pirates who are not and will never be customers really worth infuriating your paying customers and squandering your company’s goodwill?

Let's see if EA takes notice of this consumer insurrection against the DRM used for Spore.

[UPDATE]: In the span of one hour's time, another 42 one star reviews have been added to Spore's Amazon page, bringing the total 1,314 one star reviews.

[UPDATE 2]: It's nearly the end of the day here, so I checked in at Amazon one more time to see where the review count is. As of 4:19 PM, there are a total of 1,551 one star reviews. Looks like this little protest is getting some mainstream news coverage.

[UPDATE 3]: Another full day later -- as of 4:36 PM, there are 1,928 one star reviews. Doesn't look like this is coming to an end anytime soon.

[UPDATE 4]: Amazon deletes all reviews on their Spore page. Looks like it happened sometime today, 9/12/2008.

[UPDATE 5]: Looks like sometime over the weekend, Amazon put the Spore reviews back up. There are now 2,133 one star reviews, as of 9/15/2008 at 9:42 AM.