Piracy has definitely been a major issue in the gaming industry for quite some time. Even though companies that make or publish games are desperately trying to prevent such illegal acts by various means, like implementing infamous DRM (Digital Rights Management) software, that doesn't stop pirates from cracking the games and offering them on the Internet.

But recently quite a lot of industry executives have started to adopt a new strategy, which views the piracy movement from a completely different perspective. Instead of putting DRM software into their games, a lot of companies have started to offer more features for players who buy the games from the store. Things like online co-op or new multiplayer modes are being implemented by a lot of game developers in order for people to have a more complete experience if they buy the original game legally.

Such is the case with Tom Ohle, the vice president of the marketing division of CD Projekt, creator of the famous The Witcher RPG series. Ohle talks about the fact that the Enhanced Edition of the game was made in order to give players a lot more features but was priced as a normal game so as to attract them. He also thinks that, because piracy can't be avoided, companies will need to change their take on it.

“Piracy happens. Our goal is to provide as much value to paying customers as possible; the Enhanced Edition was basically like a Collector’s Edition of a game at a standard price point. Rather than spending all our time and effort punishing people who get the game illegally, we want to reward those who legitimately buy the games. Piracy hurts a lot of companies, and there are a few companies that have embraced a progressive stance on the issue… make loyal fans out of your customers and they’ll pay for your games.”

Ohle makes a pretty valid point, as some studios are militating against DRM software, which only creates problems for regular users and can easily be cracked by game pirates, even though such programs like SecuROM are deemed uncrackable. Let's hope that more and more gaming companies will change their point of view on piracy and offer a lot more content in order to motivate people to buy their games.