By Matt Ployhar

DRM was a response to piracy, just like free-to-play was a response to piracy. I’d like to cover some of the leading causes and reasons I’ve heard over the years for why people pirate, or make copies of, a game:

1. They don’t want to pay for the game outright, or they feel it’s too expensive.
2. The game isn’t available in their region.
3. They want a digital copy of the game that they legitimately purchased.
4. DRM game performance was invasive and/or degraded.
5. They bought the game, then lost or scratched the disk and didn’t want to repurchase it.
6. There wasn’t a demo available.
7. To be malicious; they don’t like the publisher.
8. The mafia, gray and black markets.
9. They cracked the game because it was a challenge.

Matt Ployhar

By Matt Ployhar

I recently read an article about one of the big console manufacturers’ finances. It reported quarterly revenue reaching more than a billion, but after all costs, it netted less profit than what some PC games will take home in a month. The math pointed to a roughly 2 percent margin of profit. And, based on its performance over the last decade, this was an awesome year for the manufacturer! Remember, it’s not always about how much revenue you generate, but what you take home that matters most.

This begs some deeper scrutiny. Are consoles really that profitable? When they are, who stands to gain the most? If we follow the money, I think the results would astound most people.

Matt Ployhar

By Matt Ployhar

In my last blog, I talked about some of the biggest factors impacting the gaming ecosystems today. In part one, I discussed the impacts of mobile form factors; this time, I’ll discuss the biggest implications occurring in the formats and business models.

So, in no particular order, here are some of the biggest format and business-model evolutions I see taking place in the video game industry.

Matt Ployhar

By Matt Ployhar

In my last blog, I talked about a spring-cleaning I did on my contacts database and observed the number of companies that have either gone defunct or underwent massive layoffs since the downturn in the economy.

This got me thinking about how or why some ISVs seem to have weathered the storm better than others.

The most interesting transitions occurring are the ones that are completely disrupting multiple platforms and business models simultaneously. However, while I’ve heard some ISVs complain about the big shifts and transitions, I’ve also heard others discussing how to embrace these shifts as an opportunity. Some platforms seem to be better positioned than others in order to address these changes. When all is said and done, it will likely end up being a survival-of-the-fittest exercise.

Here’s how I view and summarize the biggest macro-shifts impacting the games industries. There are four big standouts for me: mobile, format and business model evolutions, globalization, and innovation game-changers. We’ll start with the largest macro-shifts occurring on devices, and in subsequent blogs I’ll cover the rest of the list.

By Matt Ployhar

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been cleaning out my contacts database. This is something I’ve been dreading for a long time, since the database currently has something like 16,000 contacts in it. That’s right: 16,000. Frankly, it was getting a bit unwieldy and difficult to find active contacts, so it was time for me to roll up my sleeves and just tackle it.

Well, after three solid days of cross-checking to see who was where and what the status of the company was, my ISV (independent software vendors) contacts tab alone went from nearly 13,500 contacts down to a little over 10,000. I’m guessing only a third of my entire database still contains what I’d call “active” contacts. So what happened?

By Matt Ployhar

I’ve been following slates, tablets and similar PC form factors for quite a while now. They’ve actually been around for a very long time when one comes to think of it -- at least a decade from what I can tell. There’s a ton of hype around them all of a sudden, since Apple released the iPad over a year ago. So where will they go next?

Will consoles try to jump on the bandwagon? Will slates and tablets be able to displace laptops? What about netbooks? Then we have Windows 8 coming down the pipeline. It’s probably a good bet that Microsoft will throw a ton of eggs into the slate basket.

Matt Ployhar

By Matt Ployhar

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the economic impact of video games and why it’s in the country’s best interest to have a bright gaming future. While there are several conversations over the past few years that have corroborated my position, nothing has hit home harder than a discussion I recently had with a major university that prides itself on its technology focus.

One of the top three Chinese game ISVs (independent software vendors) proposed opening a branch of this university in their country. While this is probably a good idea on the surface, I do wonder what the long-term cause and effect is. Eight of the top 10 companies shipping PC games in the world have already shifted to China or South Korea.

The full economic impact of this has barely begun to be felt. Would it really be a good thing to see what little expertise we have left migrate abroad? Can we afford to offshore and outsource math and science skills (algorithms, graphics APIs, physics, AI)?

By Matt Ployhar

It’s in the nation’s best interest to have a bright gaming future. Sound like a pretty bold declaration? Well, there are several things that have occurred over the past few years that have led up to my position that I’d like to share. You can then draw your own conclusions.

The keys to our future well-being are all about our ability to innovate. I originally started thinking in this direction when I was attending a private games summit a little over two years ago with several key industry execs. During the lunch conversation, several games ISVs (independent software vendors) observed that they couldn’t get their hands on enough H1B work visas and permits for foreign workers and students. The key reason they had to look outside the U.S. was that they could not fulfill the demand in their respective companies for employees with strong computer science, math and science skill sets.

Mandy Mock

Do you know what the opportunities are in PC gaming? They’re probably better than you think. The PC gaming market is much bigger than consoles, both in installed base and in money made.

Sound hard to believe? Between how fast changes are happening in game models and distribution mechanisms, and the fact that industry reports only give a piece of the whole picture, it’s hard to get a really good feel for what’s happening in PC gaming. And yet, knowing things like how many gaming PCs are out there, how much revenue PC games generate, what the most popular gaming styles are, etc., is critical to deciding what kind of game to build, how to generate revenue from it and how to distribute it.

Arti Gupta

There is so much talk about games these days. With the advent of tablets and smartphones, the platforms available to play games on are ever increasing. With the runaway success of social games like Farmville, the types of games available to play have also exploded, and with them a new genre of game players who I call “social gamers.”

At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, a tablet won the Best of Show award, and the thought crossed my mind: I wonder what this means to the different gaming platforms? Is there a compelling proposition for PC or non-console game developers?