The Main Reason Why PC Gaming Is Exploding In Developing Nations Is, Surprisingly, Piracy

Valve boss Gabe Newell said in an article by Eurogamer, “In the emerging markets of China, Korea and Russia, where gaming is seeing unprecedented, explosive growth, console install bases are negligible, and the PC is king”. But did he consider why PC gaming is thriving in those countries while consoles are not? The main reason boils down to, wait for it, piracy. Yes, piracy is the main reason why the PC is so much popular as a games platform in developing nations, than in, say the US and UK. It’s easy to get a pirated PC game for next to nothing compared to the hassles of pirating a console game.

Why?

That’s because copyright laws are hardly abided by in developing countries and piracy is rampant. Sure, Steam and other digital distribution services are doing well in these countries, but that accounts for a minority of the whole gaming population. The vast majority just head to torrent sites for their gaming fix. And torrents aren’t the only alternatives. Pirated games are bought and sold openly in shopping malls, stalls and markets, often as low as $1 for killer titles such as Crysis and Half Life 2. Gamers paradise? I leave you to decide. These vendors can’t separate Crysis from COD 4, and charge by the discs instead of leveraging the brand value. The vast majority of these game vendors hardly know what copyright laws are and even if they did, show wanton disregard for it.

Why Isn’t The Console Popular?

The console is a closed platform, everyone knows that, and it’s hard to pirate games for it, if not impossible. Plus a mod-chip is usually required which is highly unreliable and invalidates the console’s warranty. Although pirated PS3 games are unheard of, but Xbox 360 pirated games are widely available and 360 consoles sold in those countries come with a mod chip right out of the box. On the PC side, there is no mod-chip or anything to worry about, and all those complex activation checks can be bypassed with a simple crack downloaded from a plethora of torrents. Even the pirated games that are sold in stalls, come with cracks, and it’s as good as the original boxed copy. In third world countries where copyright laws are non-existent or not strictly enforced, the masses of people choose the PC over gaming consoles for the low prices of games, and hey, because most already have a PC in their homes.

Real Life Figures

Piracy is a serious matter in most third world countries. Take an example of Bangladesh, which has a piracy rate of 92% (according to the Global Software Piracy Study 2006), is the largest user of pirated softwares in the Asia-Pacific and fourth largest in the world. Almost all of the Windows OS and games installed on Bangladeshi PCs are pirated. Yes folks, Microsoft may charge you over 200 bucks for Vista Home Premium, but here we have Vista Ultimate that retails around for a measly $2. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli was correct, Crysis hit stalls here just days after it’s release in the US and retailed for around $1.

What Is The Reason For This Rampant Piracy?

As I’ve said in a previous article, The Prospect of a Piracy Free Bangladesh : Will it Really Happen?, the main reason for this is that there is no way the majority of people in third world countries could afford an original, non-pirated software or game. Who would be willing to spend a whole month’s income on a single piece of software? While it can be argued that gaming isn’t essential for life, but try explaining it to the millions of people who play pirated games every day.

Developers Take A Stand

Online activation checks employed by, Steam for example,  have been (somewhat) successful in combating piracy. Most pirated games can’t be played online, and some gamers are buying the original COD 4 just to be able to play online. Game developers and publishers have to employ new ways to root out piracy, but as I say, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. If developers make life troublesome for legitimate customers, they might just end up contributing to piracy instead of eradicating it. What do you think?

Recommended Reading

The Prospect of a Piracy Free Bangladesh : Will it Really Happen?
PC Gaming is Doomed | Why That’s A Bad Idea
PC PHOBIA – Is The PC Dead As A Gaming Platform?