Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

[Shawn Zipay]

Spore, even with its super-secure DRM, SecuROM, was the most pirated game of 2008. A recent report lists the top 10 pirated titles of 2008.

1 - Spore - 1.7M downloads
2 - The Sims 2 - 1.15M
3 - Assassins Creed - 1.07M
4 - Crysis - 940K
5 - Command & Conquer 3 - 860K
6 - Call of Duty 4 - 830K
7 - GTA San Andreas - 740K
8 - Fallout 3 - 645K
9 - Far Cry 2 - 585K
10 - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 - 470K

As for the reason behind Spore's high piracy rate?

Although largely a critical and commercial success, Spore has courted controversy over its DRM policy and limited number of allowable installs.

Some observers (...) claim that rather than limiting piracy, the DRM features have actually driven more potential users to pirating the game, in order to avoid the limitations imposed by EA.

With any luck, PC titles will fare better in 2009.

Source

[Eagle101]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

Uknow i played the game at a friends and quickly got bored :/

[Polka]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

San Andreas ? ROFL

[imported_Will]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

i say we destroy a world economy and make evrything free!!!!! piracy is gonna be no problem!!


EDIT: ok im like high so lol

[MrKLM]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

Spore isn't even worth pirating. Really...

[jake_]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

I think people (like Hawkers) only pirate it for the sporn. :p

But seriously, I would have expected Fallout 3 to be higher up there.

[teetsaar123]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

I think that piracy is the only way to afford games at today's world economics. Depends where you live!

[Obsidian Spire]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

I didn't realize older games and soccer remain so popular. I would have figured Halo 2 or GTA IV or other games to pop up on there.

[imported_Whiskey]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

I think that piracy is the only way to afford games at today's world economics.

I disagree. The problem is that piracy is getting to be too easy, with very little consequence, and people are just grabbing whatever they want, not what they can afford.

An average game in North America is $50-60, and unless a game is very short/doesn't have a multiplayer component, it will give at least 50 hrs of gameplay. That's about $1/hr of entertainment.

Going to see a movie in a theater = $10 for 2 hrs, or $5/hr.
Renting a movie = $5 for 2 hrs, or $2.5/hr.
Seeing a sporting event = at least $50 for 3 hrs, or $17/hr.

For your entertainment dollar, games are a great choice.

It's all about choices. But too many people out there want to play any game that suits their mood at the moment, and unless you make a lot of money, that's just not realistic through actually purchasing those games. We make choices every day about other things we can afford or not afford, but somehow a lot of people think stealing media is OK.

I'm sure most people would like to have a new car every year, but you don't see them breaking into dealerships left and right because of the consequences. Game/movie/music piracy just makes it too easy to steal, and if people can get away with it, they will.

[=98=]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

Simple fact of the matter is that, why pay when you can get it for free?

To most people, it seems a silly question and they'll always choose the free option, especially if consequences are non-existent.

[Obsidian Spire]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

I wonder how they track these kinds of stats. Also the average game length is probably closer to 20 hours than 50 hours or the average player won't stick around long enough to dedicate more time to a particular game. So, technically the best value would be to rent games and play them for however long you want. This way, you get the appeal of piracy (getting whatever fits your mood) and the appeal of bang for your buck.

[MrKLM]

Re: Spore Tops Piracy List for 2008

Yea randomdude your right most won't spend the full time on it that was intended or developed for but when using such statistics they just go with what it was designed in mind for. According to Xfire I spent 7 hours on Spore. I made it all the way to the space stage got frustrated and quit and it sits atop my processor right now doing nothing, I didn't pay for the game it was a gift so I didn't feel such a strong need to get my money's worth. I will eventually go back and play it again.