No More Pirates?

I read this interesting article a few days ago.

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/07/pirates-are-finding-it-hard-to-crack-new-pc-games/

This is saying that there could be an actual end to piracy.

Whhaaaat?
I cannot quite get that to sink in. The reason is fairly obvious. I have been creating games now for over 30 years, and ever since the first one Piracy has been a part of my life. I used to collect pirate copies of my own games so I could see who and how they were trained. Unlimited lives, infinite health or invulnerability etc.

I have always tended to believe that the publishers have never really lost a lot of sales because of pirate copies. I know this does not fly with what the publishers tell us of course. My reasoning is fairly simple... I think a lot of people that end up with a pirate copy of a game would not have bought the game anyway, and the only reason they are playing the game is because it was free.

A number of years ago I created a game with me mates at Gremlin Graphics for the Commodore 64 called Bulldog. I love scrolling shooters ya know, always have!

http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D390

This game was supposed to have been at the time one of the most pirated games around. I am not sure if so many people would have played it without that notoriety or popularity with the pirate community. This was what I would call a fast creation title and was put out there to see how it would do. It did have advertising, but not the kind of coverage of a bigger more expensive title would have.

Anyway, back to my point here.
This article states that piracy might be on the way out, and I have to say I feel good about this. Though I have no belief that the publishers will reduce the cost of games to the public, I do believe that piracy is very wrong. I also wonder where pirates will put their energy if games become un-piratable.

Hmmm, a strange new world.

g'night,
Da Voodoochief