Despite DRM-Free Version, Witcher 2 With DRM Most Pirated
Even though a DRM-free version of The Witcher 2 is available on GOG.com, pirates continues to pirate the one packaged with DRM.
Considering that The Witcher 2 is available on GOG.com completely DRM-free, you’d think that pirating the on-disc version of The Witcher 2 would be shunned for the DRM-free download.
Nope. Apparently, pirates like rolling it the hard way. If you decided to pirate The Witcher 2, more likely than not, you’ll probably be downloading the version packaged with DRM.
CD Projekt’s CEO Marcin Iwinski believes that maybe pirating the DRM version is for “glory.” He sees no other reason as to why the DRM version is being passed around as opposed to the non-DRM version.
I’d propose that pirates continue to pirate the DRM version as a way of protesting DRM. The non-DRM version hasn’t been passed around maybe as a sign of respect to the fact that the game doesn’t have that extra barrier.
Maybe this indicates that removing the barrier of DRM is a good way of reducing piracy rates in PC gaming. Piracy’s impossible to prevent, no matter how many stringent regulations are put down to try and reduce it. I know plenty of people who’ve purchased games with tough DRM, such as Ubisoft’s online-always DRM, only to pirate the game anyway out of frustration of being unable to play the game when they want to. Hopefully, CD Projekt’s set an example that other publishers will take steps to follow in the footsteps of.

Another 'Pirates only copy PC games' noob
I have bought plenty of games. A large majority of them were crap. There are problems with all of them. GTA4 was a giant disappointment! Know why? Because I saw my VRAM get molested by the poor coding. So I added a 2nd graphics card. The game will no LOAD if a 2nd card is installed on your motherboard. Even disabling Xfire won't allow it to load! You have to physically remove it. Nevermind the fact of the wasted money on the graphics card.
How about trying to run an Eyefinity or Surround setup? Only those with 3 monitors fully understand the countless hours you spend trying to find the right hack, program, .ini edit to get a game to work above 1900x1200!!
The most recent game I've pirated? Skyrim. It doesn't natively support Eyefinity. The FOV and the items are all ridiculously(yes I spelled ridiculous correctly, +1 internet) large. Nevermind the fact that the mouse sensitivity is directly affected by the screen resolution. But now that flawless has finally added Skyrim to their widescreen fixer, with regular updates I am strongly considering buying it. After seeing all the mods that can be downloaded from Steam, all the support from Bethesda for DRM down the road.
The moral of the story is? Game developers need to step it up, and make quality games. The customer is now smart enough to sniff out the dung. And in some cases, there is a mod community capable of making a better game for free.
Honestly, I would never make a game for PC. You lose WAY too many sales, you lose WAY too much money, then afterwards PC users complain and guess what? Your brought it upon yourselves.
Unfortunately a large majority of "pirates" are still young idiots that don't know any better and continue to try and justify their stupidity.
You have tons of employees spending countless hours working on animations, scripts, action sequences, graphics, etc for years just to make you smile and have a great time and what happens? You steal the fucking thing, play it, then go "cool". I personally believe they EARNED that money.
And don't give me the "If I like it, i'll buy it" BS. That is exactly what I said, BS, you'll like it and beat it then you won't bother forking out the 59.99 because you've already played it.
Always looking for reasons to justify your stealing.
This DRM thing? Psh, I support it. I support Blizzards "always online" methods for Diablo 3 and WoW. It works a lot more than just leaving your game free to pirate.
Pirates want the DRM removed not because "then they'll buy it" but because it makes it easier to pirate.
DRM AGAIN is just another way to justify their damn pirating.
Bunch of damn kids with the logic of even younger kids looking for ways to make stealing a good thing.
I hope one day you spend countless hours working on something only to have it stolen, THEN you'll know how it feels. It feels shitty.
Dude, relax it's okay (not okay to steal, but take a breather).
Another 'Pirates only copy PC games' noob
You're right about one thing - if I like a game and end up beating it, I still won't bother forking out 59.99 for it. Do you realize how overpriced that is? Probably not. It's not like each developer's pay has gone up so dramatically in the past few years. So don't use their "salary" as a justification for what you're saying. Will I buy the game once it goes down in price by 10-30 bucks? You betcha. It only takes about a month before the game to go on a 33% sale on steam anyways. I have no problem waiting until then.
But of course there are ALWAYS people who will just get the game the cheapest way possible, which is pirating it for free. There's pretty much no way around that. But that's a really small percentage of all the people who buy/play video games.
Also, I have another bone to pick with your seemingly full support of DRM and bashing "kids". Well guess what, a lot of those people who are actually "kids" probably don't have the money to buy those $59.99 games. But will pirating the game get them hooked on the franchise/brand/series/whatever? Most definitely. Take a second and look at the bigger picture.
PC gamers are not the main cause. PC gamers just happen to have the most developed "pirating marketplace" because its simply been around the longest and, well, best. People pirate xbox games all the time.
I'm not saying its okay to steal. What I am saying is that your logic is very flawed and you don't really know people and why they do what they do.
PS: Psychology 101 - Give a bunch of people something that's great, but also cheap and easy to get and has little or no restrictions. Start adding on more restrictions, rules, regulations, and steadily higher prices, and people will complain, lie, and cheat to get what they want. Especially if it's something they really like. Lesson? Don't give people something so great and then do almost everything you can to make it almost out of their reach. Want a better example of this? - look at a school classroom where all the "kids" are at.
― Oscar Wilde
Replace bureaucracy with "publishers" and you get the idea. Games cost so much to make today that they need to suck people dry with cheap-ass tricks like fake DLCs and Elite versions and such. Look how indies are growing fast. Take LoG for example, more will come soon.
I have no respect for the gaming industry as it is today. If I had to side, I'd go with the pirates. It's the lesser of the two evil.
I wonder how much piracy would go down if the games were sold for 20-30$. Hell, if you've been around, you'll know that publishers consider the "Gold editions and such" that come out a year after at half price almost as worst as pirating. How does that make sense?!
Get over it, piracy has always, and will always be there. Today, it's just more mainstream due to high prices of games.
I don't know how old you are, but I remember when the CD replaced the diskettes and publishers SWORE that because it was not possible to copy the media (at first), prices would go down. Guess what? They always had a good excuse not only not to cut down the price because piracy costs soooo much, but to even raise it because of the cost to use the new media.
There's always two sides of a coin, and I prefer the one that doesn't take me for a total idiot, walking wallet that's waiting to be suck dry while feeding me BS after BS.
Peace.
I have bought plenty of games. A large majority of them were crap. There are problems with all of them. GTA4 was a giant disappointment! Know why? Because I saw my VRAM get molested by the poor coding. So I added a 2nd graphics card. The game will no LOAD if a 2nd card is installed on your motherboard. Even disabling Xfire won't allow it to load! You have to physically remove it. Nevermind the fact of the wasted money on the graphics card.
How about trying to run an Eyefinity or Surround setup? Only those with 3 monitors fully understand the countless hours you spend trying to find the right hack, program, .ini edit to get a game to work above 1900x1200!!
The most recent game I've pirated? Skyrim. It doesn't natively support Eyefinity. The FOV and the items are all ridiculously(yes I spelled ridiculous correctly, +1 internet) large. Nevermind the fact that the mouse sensitivity is directly affected by the screen resolution. But now that flawless has finally added Skyrim to their widescreen fixer, with regular updates I am strongly considering buying it. After seeing all the mods that can be downloaded from Steam, all the support from Bethesda for DRM down the road.
The moral of the story is? Game developers need to step it up, and make quality games. The customer is now smart enough to sniff out the dung. And in some cases, there is a mod community capable of making a better game for free.
Think before you speak, there are a LOT more PC games pirated than there are Xbox/PS games.
Again, No. The game worked fine for many people, may not have had native support but it had a hell of a long and fun game with amazing graphics, etc. So simply because it had that error you feel that you are allowed to steal it? So if a car has a bit of rust on the side, you should have all the rights to steal it?
and fudoka711, it is simple and easy to generalize pirates. They pirate because in the back of their head they know they can get this game within a couple or less hours, for free, as soon as its released, and start playing immediately without worrying about going to the store, buying it with money they can use for w/e else, etc.
Pirates just pirate because its easy. Its easy to steal a game, takes minutes-a few hours to get this game and bam, you saved 60+ bucks and you have a new game.
But pirates look for excuses because they KNOW they are f--king the market and screwing themselves over but having less and less games for the PC. So as a scapegoat they claim things like "DRM" "make it easy" etc.
Game developers aren't stupid. Most pirates are. Xbox/PS games are pirated less often, hence why they are shifting over.
While true I get the feeling no one read the article. yes piracy will happen. the title feels misleading to me. its not about witcher 2 being the most pirated game despite a drm free version. The ENTIRE POINT of this article was there are 2 versions of witcher 2. One that has DRM that has to be pirated and hacked. And one with NO DRM. that could just be pirated and played... this is NOT about people pirating vs buying DRM free. this is about pirates choosing to pirate the drm vs the non drm version. its still pirating either way.
The thing is CD projecks CEO is trying to spin it. he wants to say "there are two versions and pirates are choosing the drm version as a protest against drm" And I love he's taking the drm is bad side and his company acts on it.
But the reality is its still being pirated despite their drm free version. And the majority of pirates are idiots. 15 year old kids with bit torrent and idiots who click on the first torrent link they find. The percent of pirates who actually know how to hack is minuscule, and the percent with morals and the desire to intentionally protest drm is probably smaller. The DRM DVD version just came out first, and is an ISO. It gets a higher torrent seed for being there first. gets more popular, and most pirates are not smart enough to realize there is a drm free version. pirates are lazy. if they knew they'd download it instead
I'm not a pirate. Stop telling me that I must accept DRM, changes to a game's design, or other piracy-mitigation strategies. I really don't care how many people pirated Witcher 2 with DRM. I just care whether it is a good game or not. Reading about how pirates flocked to Witcher 2 with DRM while a DRM-free version was available, I have to start thinking that the piracy statistics are bogus and calculated improperly.
So how do the butchers and pig farmers fit into all of this. Or the feed growers, abattoir operators and transporters for that matter? Now if enough people "copy" the ham everybody else looses their job, no more fresh ham for anybody. Oversimplification but we are talking about Tom's readers
Yep a "copy" isn't hurting person B but is does affect everybody else down the line.
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I'm not saying it's black or white, but it's legally wrong, it's at least morally inappropriate (I'd say wrong but to each their own), and it's economically just silly. Pirate the good games = less sales = less development money for developers who make good products. So go after the few publishers who make good (well, at least not bad) games and what do we have left? Publishers who put out crap and console games (no comment on the crap level). Look around .. we're almost there.
If you can't afford the game, wait till it's on sale (what 2-3 months, by then they've fixed the bugs and add extra content) or don't buy it. If you can't afford it ... save your money or just buy something else. Still want it ... well then either break the law and if you get caught deal with it or suck it up and move on to plan B. It's called being an adult. I'm not sure what parents are teaching their kids today but logic, morals, work ethic or common sense seems to be low on the list.
While we can argue back and forth about the definition of what stealing is, piracy definitively harm society and I wish to argue that in a purely economic point of view, not a moral one. If a company invest millions in a R and D and invents something that is very good for society, and other companies can just steal the idea so that the company who made the invention cannot profit, that company would not have invested those millions in the first place and the invention that is beneficial to society would not have been invented. Same with software. Piracy weakens the profitability of making software and thus lowers our investment in that industry with the result of society having less software that could have been potentially useful.
No it doesn't, and that's the problem. DRM is totally ineffective, and has never in any instance stopped piracy. Pirates simply remove the DRM, so the only people who have to deal with it are those who aren't pirates.
DRM exists for one reason and one reason only. To make shareholders happy. It gives the developers something to point to and say "look how we're protecting your investment."
And you all want to whine about the developer and support piracy... you can't with this developer with this game. they are doing it right. you want to complain about what it costs wait for a sale like the rest of us. if you don't support the good guys they dissappear.