Despite DRM-Free Version, Witcher 2 With DRM Most Pirated

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By Catherine Cai
published

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.

Catherine Cai
77 Comments Comment from the forums
  • s3anister
    I thought it was obvious that with or without DRM games are still going to be pirated? Some people will never pay for their games when they can get it for free...
    Reply
  • sacre
    Pirates always try and justify their pirating, fact is, you're stealing and thats it. You bitch and moan about game producers not making games anymore for the PC - well you're the main cause.

    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.
    Reply
  • bavman
    sacre
    Dude, relax it's okay (not okay to steal, but take a breather).
    Reply
  • i see it like this, pirating is something that most people reading this have done. Over 1/2 of all pc users do it in some way. I do it all the time. There is no way of stopping it. I have 2 3TB full of movies and games that i got of the net or ripped off disks. The fact remains that the only way to stop thing from being pirated is by making them free. Follow BLR's example EA and just go f2p open source for battle field 4. x)
    Reply
  • Pennanen
    People really dont understand what stealing and piracy is. If person A takes person B's ham, its stealing. If person A makes a copy of person B's ham they can both have ham, its not stealing since person B gets to keep his ham.
    Reply
  • opmopadop
    sacreI would never make a game for PC. You lose WAY too many salesAnother 'Pirates only copy PC games' noob
    Reply
  • fudoka711
    sacreAnd 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.
    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.
    Reply
  • amoralman
    “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
    ― 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.
    Reply
  • cmcghee358
    in response to Sacre. I disagree.

    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.
    Reply
  • amoralman
    Oh and btw, who can b*tch talk about piracy when they think it's exclusive to PC?!? Niiiice.
    Reply