WildTangent CEO: PC Business Model = F*cked
Piracy exists, it's everywhere. Music, film, software... if it can be copied, it will be copied. Many companies have resorts to methods such as DRM or blanket lawsuits to combat this problem, while others simply just lay down and accept that there is nothing to be done about it. Alex St. John, CEO of Wild Tangent, in a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz made a statement about the state of the PC game market.
One reason for that is that the content is free on the PC because it's easily pirated but that's another way of saying that the business model on the PC has to be different.For example: if the games were free sponsored by advertising then what would the value be to a pirate in pirating it? The business model is wrong and consumers are finding a way around it... It tells you that you need much greater security on the PC but that would contradict the free market and openness of the PC platform, and I think that's one of the strengths of the PC, or you've got to say 'The business model doesn't work'.
His statements are a direct response to five major publishers sending out letters to 25,000 file sharers demanding restitution for the misdeeds.
The people sending those letters are blaming the consumer for getting their media for free in an open environment rather than saying 'Hey our business model's f*cked, come up with a better one'," he added.
I cannot give the big thumbs up to Wildtangent. They themselves have been guilty of a number of shady misdealing in their past; spy ware in their web plug-in, DRM and a handful of other dirty no-nos. I'm not going to say that I completely agree with them. Yes advertainment and DRMed DLC is a good way to combat piracy, it's not a model that interests many publishers. Big games with retail boxes still sell well.
Alex St John: The PC business model is "f*cked" [gamesindustry.biz]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 8 September 2008
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Other stuff like this: alex st john, f*cked, pc gaming, piracy, wildtangent
One of the hidden gems of GDC this year was WildTangent's presentation on this very subject. While I'm not a huge PC gamer (and unfamiliar with the dirty tactics Asterick describes), I will say that I almost completely agreed with the guy. The PC gaming business model as we know it now is indeed f*cked and DRM/Ad supported games will likely play a large part of the future for this section of the industry.
Even if not through services like WildTangent, I've already made the switch. At this point I almost refuse to buy any PC game if I can't get it through Steam. Not having to deal with install discs and getting "friendly-enough" DRM makes me happy.