The Video Game Culture has grown significantly in India over the past couple of decades. In fact, India houses thousands of gamers among its diverse population. Strangely, even after housing such a large number of gamers, it isn’t a significant market for game developers and hence, they do not focus on the needs and requirements of the Indian market.
The reason, you ask? ‘Piracy’. If you’re a gamer in India, you’ll know that this place is a hotbed for piracy. I’m pretty sure that most of us started our gaming lives with Piracy as a base. Even I pirate games seldom in the present day.
But is lack of money or resources the main reason why there is such a rampant in piracy? I believe not. The main reason is our mentality and attitude towards the gaming industry. Needless to say, our social circles and community play a major role in shaping this attitude. An average Indian gamer’s attitude towards an individual purchasing an original title and promoting others to do the same instead of pirating them be like “Haha, stupid douche. Who BUYS games? Just get the TPTB rip bro. Piratebay4life!”
There was a time, not so long ago, when pre-ordering a game meant making a trip to the local guy who sat with a laptop outside a railway station and saying, “Arre Mudassar Bhai, download kar ke rakh, mai aa raha hai kal”. Up until 2007-08, every hope of getting a recent title that didn’t have the word ‘FIFA’ in its name, revolved around Mudassar Bhai, whether you liked it or not. Not because you couldn’t afford it. You just couldn’t find it anywhere, and no amount of piggy-banked savings could change that. But with the advancements of e-commerce and digital purchases in India, that little trip to Mudassar Bhai has obsolete. Yet, our mentality towards obtaining the latest titles remains unadulterated.
Although numerous attempts have been made by the government to put an end to piracy in India (latest being implementing a ban on the piracy sites as well as a hefty fine for those who are caught in the act), piracy still thrives in the veins of Indian gamers.
Yet, I believe that we can solve this social crisis if we stand together. It would be quite difficult, but not impossible altogether. People aren’t aware that they can fetch original title and support the developers even at minimal costs, especially after the introduction of distribution networks such as Steam. Steam also happens to offer hefty discounts on several occasions and sales.
Our country’s progress against piracy is sluggish and menial. The next generation of consoles, namely PS4 and Xbox One, aren’t jailbroken yet, so they demote piracy to some extent. But the drive against piracy will be significant only when PC gamers give it up and retrieve to distribution channels such as Steam and Origin, which happen to offer hefty discounts on several occasions.
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Anonymous
One of the main reason for the piracy of games in India is the hefty price of games on launch.
The gold / premium edition of games cost around Rs.4,500 or more. And yes I agree steam offers great sale and I have benefited from it too but it comes afrer atleast an year or 2 after the release of games.
I think if the game’s prices are a little low people will actually want to buy games.
Some people even buy games for showcasing their game collection and increasing their Steam level.
Another reason is the payment method.
On one hand where steam is now providing an option of cash on delivery for purchasing a title EA’s origin has only payment via credit card.