70% of Russian Gamers Are Pirates Following Western Publisher Exodus | TorrentFreak
Seven out of ten video gamers said they'd pirated at least one game in 2022, with 51% admitting that they pirated more in the last year than they did previously.
Not all that surprising that piracy has become so big in Russia. If people can't access something legally they'll still find a way. Wasn't there a proposal to essentially legalize piracy back when Western businesses started pulling out of Russia? Or at least loosen the restrictions against piracy? Not sure if it ever happened, but it's hard to see that percentage of piracy go down unless relations between Russia and the West normalize. Or unless Western businesses quietly start doing business there again once they think no one cares.
“One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue... 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.”
Though pricing is a big part of it, so fair regional pricing absolutely needs to be a part of the solution.
So either the service is poor in Russia (most likely with the sanctions) or the pricing is wrong (also likely) for piracy to be as prevalent as it is.
I think Newell's quotation here is not really accurate. I'd say it's 60% pricing and 40% service. You have little chance buying a 60-70 buck game in an economy like Russia or Brazil right now. Source: I know highly-educated Russians and Brazilians who pirate because they can't afford the games.
Regional pricing is part of the service imo. Some stores have inconsistent pricing because they don't consider international customers. So if a game sells for $60USD, it should still for about the same as other games that are listed for $60USD in other countries, but instead some games don't get adjusted for different regions.
But yes, even if the service is phenomenal, people won't buy if the price is unreasonable.
Can they even purchase most games?