Solution to Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Well, there’s a lot of hullabaloo revolving around the infestation of DRM on consumer PC games. I can understand the publishers’ point of view since they claim that DRM is a necessary means in the fight against piracy, and I agree, but it merely delays the inevitable. When I was in college, I was pretty big into the piracy scene. I was broke, computer savvy, and liked to play all the new glitteries. Me being broke was the main motivation for pirating games since I liked playing games but the majority of games on the market don’t exactly have any replay value, so after I beat it, I’m done. Since I had an Über-Fast internet connection, I became what was known as a “dump-site”. Meaning I got all the new fantabulous stuff before anybody else did. What I noticed during that time is that I often got “gold issue” versions of games that weren’t even out yet. Yeah, you read that right; to use a modern example, I would be playing a full, retail release quality copy of FALLOUT 3, right now! Now, since I’m married, my wife acts as a moral compass for me so I’m not allowed to pirate crap anymore, and since I can actually afford to pay for them, I’m not exactly motivated to put in the effort of procuring games through piracy. In all likelihood, if I were to venture onto usenets or IRC I could probably find a version of Fallout 3 but it’s not worth my time, especially since I already have the Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition on preorder. What I’m trying to say is, DRM doesn’t prevent or limit crap! Nine times out of ten, the pirated copy is some leaked gold version that someone working at the publisher or someone working at a retailer stole and sold to a pirate group. Yes, there is money involved and quite a bit as I imagine the ones getting paid take a significant risk in supplying the goods. So technically, like all pirate groups claim, “we buy our games” they do, it’s just stolen property. But enough of that ranting! Here’s the solution to the DRM: Subscription model. Now, before I get a crap ton of flame comments, hear me out. Charge $10-15 for the media or digital download, one month access, and the serial to activate. Then charge $2-3 per month for access to the game with the caveat that the game will be completely unlocked in the event that the game is officially “retired” or no longer supported, with a minimum term of support for two years, but no minimum requirement on the part of the subscriber. It’s a model based on the World of Warcraft, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, etc. Sure, it’ll piss off a few people, but I for one would be more than happy to shell out $15 for the actual game, and then pay a total of about $50 for unlimited play for a year. Since I normally get bored or beat a game within that timeframe. Of course, like the MMORPGs listed, it’ll require an internet connection to log on to play but considering that according to a 2007 survey 47% of all households have high-speed internet, I’ll take a jump that 94% of gamers have it. And approximating that 50% of individuals between the ages of 14 and 40, exclusive, are gamers, there are approximately 50891140 gamers in the US so, 47837671 of them have broadband, and estimating that 25% of them will buy any particular game, 11959418, and that only 25% of those will buy it because they don’t like the subscription model, that leaves roughly 3 million people buying a game and paying the $3/mo. I would like to believe that this is conservative since most people would find $15 once and $3/mo quite reasonable, and since the company wouldn’t be wasting development dollars on a new DRM scheme that will be broken tomorrow or even next week it equates to more revenue. Hell, let’s be really conservative and say that 1% of gamers with broadband would buy into this. That’s 478377 gamers @ $15 a pop=$7175655 once and $717566/mo presuming that only 50% of those stick with it. That’s a nice chunk-o-change. In my mind this resolves the whole piracy issue. It takes the wind out of the sails of those who “do it because of DRM” and those who “do it because they can”. Besides, who cares if they continue to pirate it? Even if they manage to spoof the registration key, they’re still paying $3/mo to continue to play.