Earlier we reported that AionGuard was still in development at Avalanche Studios, and it was part of our upcoming interview with studio founder Cristofer Sundberg that is yet to be published.
We asked him about the impact of piracy and used games, and here’s his thoughts on it.
“I think piracy won’t be as big on the next generation hardware,” he revealed. “I’m actually really happy to see Just Cause 2 on the used-games shelves as it’s a rarity – hard to come by! Games are often returned to the stores, not because they are bad, but because they are too short, offer very little or no player autonomy and does not encourage exploration.
“That’s what we’re trying to change. I mean, still to this day, three years after release, we still have hundreds of thousands of Just Cause 2 players every month. So that pretty much squashes the common publisher argument that every game needs multiplayer to “combat” second hand sales, without even looking at what the game really is.
“Nobody wins in the end; the developer can’t make the great experience that they want to, the publisher doesn’t get its money back and the consumer is disappointed. I am convinced that this mentality contributes to the downfall of the industry.”
There was a lot of brouhaha over anti-used games tech and its supposed presence on next-gen systems. Sony has been saying cryptic things while Microsoft is awfully quiet on this matter as well, but more will be revealed as we come closer to the next-gen console launch.
Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
