Results of a survey released by UK trade association The Independent Game Developers Association (TIGA) reveal some interesting attitudes toward video game piracy by UK developers. First and foremost, the majority of the developers surveyed do indeed think that piracy is both a problem for their business and a problem that is increasing as time goes on – kind of a no-brainer. More interesting was the level of concern voiced – 60% find the threat of piracy to their survival as a company to be low. Finally, there was a 50/50 split between developers who think the government should step in to stop piracy (by restricting or cutting broadband access to suspected pirates – a long-running series of debates throughout the world) and those who feel they can curb it on their own through expanded distribution channels and new revenue models. These are paradigm shifts we’ve already been seeing as digital distribution has become mainstream, along with an increase in ad-supported models.

TIGA

Full Results summary:

Q1: Is piracy of videogames a problem for your business?
Response: 60% responded Yes, 30% responded No, 10% responded Dont know

Q2: Do you agree or disagree that people who persist in illegally swapping copyrighted files of music, films and games on the internet should have their internet connection slowed down and ultimately severed if they ignore the warning letters to stop?
Response: 50% responded Yes, 50% responded No

Q3. In relation to your business, is the problem of piracy increasing, decreasing or constant?
Response: 10% responded Increasing, 10% responded decreasing, 80% responded constant

Q4. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is scarcely noticeable and 10 is imminent threat to business survival, where would you put peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing?
Response: 60% responded 2 or 3, 20% responded 4 or 5, 10% responded 8 and 10% didnt respond

Q5. Is P2P something you expect to be a threat in 5 years time?
Response: 50% responded Yes, 50% responded No

Q6. What practical steps can you as a business take to ameliorate any impact of (P2P)?
Response: 40% didnt respond, 50% (or 83% of those who did respond) indicated they would Change their business model, predominantly citing Digital distribution, Direct customer relations and Good value and service as the key steps. 10% responded greater piracy control through Government schemes.

Q7. Are you considering different ways of doing business as a consequence?
Response: 50% responded Yes, 30% responded No and 20% responded Dont know

Q8. If yes to question 7 please specify.
Response: Of those that responded 75% stated Digital Distribution, subscription based services and/or ad supported free games, 25% indicated they would work with publishers to address this.

Q9. Is Digital Rights Management an irrelevance, a solution or a problem?
Responses: 50% responded An Irrelevance, 30% responded The Solution, and 20% responded The problem