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Palm Bay, Fl. (PRWEB) August 31, 2006

At the latest QuakeWorld, id co-owner Kevin Cloud, in response to an audience members question about the issue, stated “Piracy is hard. It’s really, from my opinion, destroying the PC market.” He said concerns over piracy were the biggest factor in PC gaming’s shrinking presence in many retail stores.

Of course, developers complain that many of their games are pirated. One developer, Ritual Entertainment, found that when their latest game was released, support calls from pirates outnumbered those from legitimate customers by a ratio of five to one. This would support claims that piracy does play a huge role in causing a decline in PC game sales.

Or does it?

When compared to the continued annual growth of console gaming, PC game sales have been on the decline. Some claim that PC game sales suffered because of competition from consoles that offer lower prices on hardware and easier usability. Also, Microsoft has admitted that efforts focused on a XBox marketing campaign hurt PC game sales by not providing similar support for PC gaming. Another factor that seems to be causing a decline in PC game retail sales is the increasing presence of online stores that offer downloadable PC games. As more households get high-speed Internet connections, downloads become more practical, and for gamers, provide instant gratification.

According to the NPD Group, PC games sales in the U.S. retail market are on the decline, falling to $ 953 million in 2005, a 36 percent drop from $ 1.5 billion in 2001. While U.S. sales of PC game downloads are predicted to almost double this year to about $ 500 million and grow to $ 763 million in 2007. Video game specialty retailers like GameStop and EB Games still carry a selection of PC games, but stores like Blockbuster or Wherehouse Music carry only console games which generated $ 6.1 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to NPD. Developments in the PC games industry, specifically the Internet, is changing the PC software industry. Industry analyst, Anita Frazier, said “not only are users purchasing their games online, they are also willingly paying additional recurring fees over and above the price of the game to subscribe to services that let them play with others online.”

Is piracy killing the PC gaming industry? When you consider the growth of console gaming, increased emphasis on console systems by developers, and the increase in online downloads of PC games, you must conclude that piracy has little, if any, effect on PC game sales. If you take into consideration the increase in online PC game downloads, it appears the PC game industry is alive and well.

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