DRM is a Necessary Evil

I was disturbed last week when World of Goo developers Ron Carmel and Kyle Gabler revealed that by their rough estimates, the PC version of their game has a 90% piracy rate.  90 percent.

If you need filled in, Ron and Kyle decided to make their game DRM free and trust the community out there to support their game if it had merit.  So much for trusting the community.  It makes one laugh when you read forum posts from admitted pirates who claim that they only pirate in order to protest DRM.

While it’s true that many people who pirated the game probably wouldn’t have bought it in the first place, and that it’s good that they’re playing this non AAA title at all, the fact is that the creators of this game are getting urinated on by PC gamers who hide behind false robin hoodism, when what they really are is a pack of criminals, is tragic.  Yeah, PC gaming is doing just fine.

DRM is an evil, but on evidence, it’s a necessary evil.  I get angry when EA treats us all like potential thieves, but the fun fact is that for independent developers, 90 percent of us are, in fact, thieves.  Scary.

–WG