Paradox have expressed their opinion on the growing distaste for DRM. CEO Fredrik Wester empathized with players on the problems DRM can inflict, saying “It can punish players who actually bought the game”. He also revealed that Paradox doesn’t have any “intentions on finding out or hunting” the people that pirate, and instead want to focus on providing a “better service” for those that have already bought the game.
In an interview with GameSpot, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester recalls his own difficulties with DRM. “It can punish players who actually bought the game,” Wester explained. “I remember buying Civilization III, and I couldn’t install it because I had something else installed. I had to uninstall two different programs, change settings…it was a hassle.”
Wester also understands why most people pirate in the first place: convenience. “If I had pirated it from anywhere, I would have gotten it much faster, more convenient,” Wester added. “So we don’t want to put barriers on convenience for the gamers. It should be more convenient, you should get more content, it should be easier for you to install if you buy the legal copy.”
Paradox don’t even want to pursue the people that have pirated their products, because there’s not much point when they’re already a highly profitable company. “I have no idea how many of our games are pirated,” Wester stated. “We don’t really have any intention of finding out or hunting these people.”
What’s their solution then? Give the customers that bought their product a great game with a better service; something that Ubisoft echoed only two weeks ago. “What we want to do is provide people who bought the game legally a better service.” said Wester. “With frequent updates; good and convenient services; that’s how we fight piracy. I hope it works. I keep my fingers crossed.”
Is this anti-DRM stance finally catching on?