Piracy is a tricky issue within the gaming industry.  On the one hand, computer games are designed for people who have some sort of at least rudimentary knowledge of how to navigate computer software.  On the other hand, it is the people who have an advanced knowledge of computers who have the ability to pirate the software.  Piracy costs game manufacturers lots of money; by some estimates the pirating of a newly released game can cost the game manufacturers upwards into millions of dollars. 

Pirating a video game isn’t as simple as merely borrowing someone else’s disk and downloading it on to a computer.  Games nowadays have security features in place, which make copying them illegally much harder than it once was.  Crooks will use many different sophisticated methods while trying to copy software.  As technology improves, so do the methods by which to copy it.

The companies who release games to the public know that there are many unscrupulous consumers who are out to get for free what they would otherwise need to pay for, and this is why the companies take several steps in an attempt to stop piracy.  Many games have codes on the box that are unique to each particular unit.  This was initially a good idea; buyers needed to enter the code upon registering the game after purchase and also were required to reference the code upon contacting the company for any sort of assistance.  Problems arose, however, when hackers developed computer programs that created these same sorts of codes, thereby allowing pirated software to be registered in a seemingly legitimate sense by using the falsely acquired code.  More problems came up when the rightful owners of the codes attempted to either register the game they bought or contact the company.  These innocent people were accused of having pirated software since the code was already registered, when in fact they were the rightful owners of the code.  Not all companies utilize these sorts of codes anymore since they are so easily stolen.

There are computer programs which are often installed onto computers along with the game software, which do the job of ensuring the game is a legal copy and that there are no attempts at piracy.  Gamers detest this sort of software, and with good reason.  Not only do these sorts of programs get installed without the gamer knowing, but gamers also claim these sorts of programs open their computers up to other hackers while also making fundamental changes to the computers’ programs which slow and eventually ruin the computer.  There is a notorious feud between gamers and companies that distribute this sort of software.  Many games have had boycotting campaigns fledged against them because they utilize anti-pirating software.  One particular company which created the anti-piracy software coined Starforce famously offered up a challenge to any gamer to prove their programming had caused problems with the gamer’s computer; the only catch was that Starforce is headquartered in Russia, and the stipulations of the challenge was that the computer must physically be brought in for examination.  When no one took the company up on the challenge the company declared victory against its critics, infuriating critics to no end.  

Other game manufacturers accept that game piracy is going to occur, and instead of adding anti-piracy software to their games they give perks to legitimate customers in the form of occasional updates and other offerings.  Only customers with valid, legally acquired games have access to these sorts of perks.

So how do hackers still manage to pirate games? Some offer up copies of the games using shared drives on the internet.  Others manage to make physical copies and create proper codes to make the games playable.  Make no mistake about it though; pirating games is a crime.  Much like copying movies or music, copying games can result in hefty consequences.  Fines range according to the severity of the offense.  For example, a person who copies one game for a friend is unlikely to receive the same punishment as a person who copies hundreds of games and sells them, but both are subject to legal ramifications.  The lesson is that games should be purchased legally.  After all, shouldn’t companies be paid for the work they put into developing and releasing a game?