Gabe Newell Has Some Surprising Views About Piracy


You know, it shouldn’t be surprising when a person as savvy as Gabe Newell talks sense about piracy, but given the fact that we’re used to a streaming pile of self righteous bile on the topic, it does raise a few eyebrows when someone thinks outside the box.

Discussing markets where piracy is most rampant, like Russia, Gabe Newell claimed that consumers there just want to play the product and, in most cases, simply don’t want to wait for it.

“Russia now outside of Germany is our largest continental European market, the people who are telling you that Russians pirate everything are the people who wait six months to localise their product into Russian,” claimed Gabe, speaking at the North to Innovation conference in Seattle.

“The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.”

In their rush to aggressively protect their IP, publishers tend to forget they are punishing the consumers that keep them in business. It’s refreshing that where most see an enemy to be brutally vanquished, Gabe Newell sees opportunity.

Valve: Piracy Is More About Convenience Than Price [Gamasutra]


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