Crytek Moving Toward Free-to-play?

**Frogacuda** · 24 Jun 2012, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by Diff-chan

Crysis did well and so did Crysis 2. But let's say Crysis 2 lost, I don't know, $3 on each pirated copy. This assumes that the majority of pirates would have never in a million years bought it, some would've bought it on sale, a few would've bought it at $60 etc. That's still about $12 million, which is a substantial amount of money for a company like Crytek. They really have a responsibility to themselves to go after that money. That's what I am saying. Now, we don't know the real amount - it might be more than $3, it might be less. But I figure that Crytek has come up with an estimate and determined that it is a material amount of money lost and is worth getting after.

Given that EA only gets like $25-$30 a copy in the first place, I think $3 a copy is probably generous. But I digress.

Of course piracy accounts for some loss of sales. But bear in mind, Crysis 2 sold like 4 million copies. And lost money. Is the issue really that they "only" sold 4 million copies, or that they spent too much on the fucking game? Just trying to put that in perspective, really.

**gamevet** · 24 Jun 2012, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Given that EA only gets like $25-$30 a copy in the first place, I think $3 a copy is probably generous. But I digress.

Of course piracy accounts for some loss of sales. But bear in mind, Crysis 2 sold like 4 million copies. And lost money. Is the issue really that they "only" sold 4 million copies, or that they spent too much on the fucking game? Just trying to put that in perspective, really.

How much money did they spend to make a DX11 patch for the PC version? I know I didn't buy Crysis 2 until that patch came out, and by then the game was $40.

Originally Posted by Yoshi

Are you fucking kidding me? Diff is spot on. I am not a fan of the F2P model, but I don't blame companies for trying it. It beats Ubisoft DRM.

In what way am I fucking kidding you?

The industry has moved to DRM and free to play, because of how piracy is at least 4 times that of the actual sales of their product. What's the incentive for a person to purchase a game, when they can get it free?

**James** · 24 Jun 2012, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by gamevet

What's the incentive for a person to purchase a game, when they can get it free?

That's a really, really stupid question. I mean seriously really stupid. You should feel stupid for asking it.

The incentive is that most people grow up, understand that this piracy thin is great in high school and maybe even college, but doesn't cut it in adulthood. Some people, of course, never grow up, but there's nothing you can do about that.

Notch and Gabe Newell have both given extended answers on the piracy issue, and they sell more games than Crysis could ever hope to. Neither go to sleep at night thinking the piracy demon will eat them. Some pirates can be converted into customers with good service, others will never change due to the financial situation or just being dicks. It's something that will happen, though, and pissing off your fan base to protect the IP isn't the answer.

James

**gamevet** · 24 Jun 2012, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by James

That's a really, really stupid question. I mean seriously really stupid. You should feel stupid for asking it.

No I shouldn't, because I had a ton of pirated games during the C64 era. If I could get a game for free, why would I walk down to the store and plop my money down for a legit copy?

People were downloading games on Torrent sites, weeks before the legit copy hit retail. Other than having a conscience, why would those people turn around and pay for the game, or any other game for that matter, unless it was practically free to begin with?

The incentive is that most people grow up, understand that this piracy thin is great in high school and maybe even college, but doesn't cut it in adulthood. Some people, of course, never grow up, but there's nothing you can do about that.

Do they? If you use MAME, there's a pretty good chance you've downloaded the ROM off of some website.

Yeah, I'd much rather give the developer cash for a modern game, but there are still plenty of people that don't see it that way, even when they can afford the best PC hardware available.

Notch and Gabe Newell have both given extended answers on the piracy issue, and they sell more games than Crysis could ever hope to. Neither go to sleep at night thinking the piracy demon will eat them. Some pirates can be converted into customers with good service, others will never change due to the financial situation or just being dicks. It's something that will happen, though, and pissing off your fan base to protect the IP isn't the answer.

James

Believe me, there are plenty of dicks out there that don't give 2 shits about anyone but themselves. Just driving in traffic during rush hour (in a large city) will show you how fucked up people are.

The music industry had to make major changes, because of piracy. Offering the ability to download a song for $.99 doesn't seem like a bad idea, over paying $15 for a whole album. And Steam has taken that approach by selling older titles for dirt cheap and discounting newer titles months after release . Crytek has decided that they needed to make changes as well, to survive. Going for the micro-transaction route seems to be what they are going to do.

**Frogacuda** · 24 Jun 2012, 06:22 PM

The thing about piracy is that the most pirated games are also usually the best selling. Same for movies. I'm sure there are people that pirate instead of buying but it doesn't seem like piracy has ever really robbed a game of its success.

**gamevet** · 24 Jun 2012, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

The thing about piracy is that the most pirated games are also usually the best selling. Same for movies. I'm sure there are people that pirate instead of buying but it doesn't seem like piracy has ever really robbed a game of its success.

I think in the case of Crysis 2 being the most pirated game of 2011, that it was the PC gamer giving Crytek the big middle finger. They were upset that it wasn't catered towards the PC gamer first.

**Yoshi** · 24 Jun 2012, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by gamevet

The industry has moved to DRM and free to play, because of how piracy is at least 4 times that of the actual sales of their product. What's the incentive for a person to purchase a game, when they can get it free?

Not being a thieving douchebag? Age doesn't even enter into it. I love people rationalizing that they used to do it but "grew up." I guess that's better than the alternative, but that says a lot about your parents and/or friends.