With piracy being an issue for different industries such as film, music, and video games, it might occur to us that at some point of time: "Is piracy killing the video game industry?"
There are different motives for piracy and the most common reason for this act is for earning money. Because of this, people that cannot afford the actual game at its original price could buy the game at a very cheap price, or even just download it online. Does it affect the sales of the games in the industry?
I believe it does affect the sales in the industry at a minimal level that it isn't prominent in data and statistics. Although it does have some negative effects, it also has a positive effect for the game being pirated. Some people do download and play pirated games just to test it out first before actually buying the game itself. This includes games that has exclusive online features that could only be accessed by having an original copy of the game itself. This includes Grand Theft Auto V and Dark Souls franchise.
I believe that piracy isn't killing the video game industry and it won't at some point in the future. It's even spreading knowledge of the game through means of piracy albeit illegal. I kind of see piracy as an advertisement for the actual game because it doesn't actually restrict people from buying the original game itself. There will be those good games that are worth buying and even people who pirate would want to show their support to the game developers by buying the actual game or even purchase some merchandise from the developers.
What do you think?
