Posted in: Games, Movies, Video Games | Tagged: cities: skylines, entertainment, games, paradox Interactive, pc, piracy, video games

Paradox Interactive Has Figured Out The Best Way To Combat Game Piracy

With the rise of PC gaming exploding substantially, the creep of video game piracy is not far behind. It's easier than ever for games to be stolen off torrent websites and it has required developers to get creative. Some add game breaking bugs that slowly reveals pirates as they complain in forums, but Paradox Interactive have decided to take a different tact.

Cities: Skyline is the latest game from the developer and it too has been hit by pirating. Paradox's Shams Jorjani has revealed the plan to beat the activity over twitter. It's deceptively simple. Just offer a great service for paying customers with near constant updates.

Here are a few small tidbits of info about Cities: Skylines – day 1 we had 0% piracy. pretty cool. Day 2 16%.

— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

As usual our plan for pirates is to make a great game even better through free updates – making it more convenient to use Steam instead. — Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

It's all about offering the superior service. That's how we bring down piracy. By making the paid experience a superior one.

— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

Here is Paradox Interactive's and Princess Leia's stance on PC piracy: pic.twitter.com/fDmDgfHHLp — Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

It's all about offering a superior service. How come more and more use Netflix instead of pirating stuff? Ease of use and convenience.

— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

We updated Magicka 14 times in 13 days. Even the pirates stopped posting new pirated versions after a while. Steams autoupdate was easier. — Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

Also – best "DRM" ever? Steam workshop.

— Shams Jorjani (@ShamsJorjani) March 12, 2015

In my eyes, this is really the best way to fight piracy. Kill your customers with so much kindness that pirates can't keep up. It's good for the paying customers and will probably convert several of those who stole the game.

As we've seen time and time again, punishing paying customers on the suspicion that they might be pirates only makes those who did pay for the title angry. That isn't good for anyone.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!