Beating Piracy by Taking Advantage of Video Game Sales

Pirating video games sure is tempting nowadays. Why buy a $60 video game if you can just download it instead? Back in the 90s and early 2000s before online multiplayer gaming was mainstream, pirating a game pretty much gave you the full experience. Of course, it is the immoral thing to do because supporting developers help them stay in business and continue to make great games. But if you have difficulty shaking off that pirating habit, don’t worry because buying a game nowadays is more beneficial now and thanks to video game sales, you don’t have to spend a fortune on amassing a nice collection of good video games.

Before getting into the video game sales subject, it is best first to realize why buying a game is good for you in addition to the developer. First off, it is the secure way to go as many of the sites that offer “cracked” versions of games bundle these games with malware and other stuff that will raise red flags on your virus scanner. Even if your virus scanner doesn’t detect anything, there is no assurance that you are diving into your favorite game virus-free. Spyware can be pretty difficult to detect these days. Consoles might seem safer, but they are not. You must perform heavy and risky operations to your console in order to play these pirated video games. Since many console games have an online requirement, you could risk your account getting banned from the online multiplayer service. Just look at all the reports of Microsoft banning Xbox Live accounts for playing leaked pre-release versions of games.

Speaking of online multiplayer, most pirated games don’t let you play with others online. This is where video game sales can be really attractive because these discounts do not sacrifice the gameplay experience. Even if the game doesn’t come with offline functionality, you will always need to be connected to the Internet if you wish to download the latest version of a particular game. You might be using the latest version right now, but the next release could fix some annoying bugs or add some new features. In most cases, cracked video games cannot be updated properly and could even cause problems. Many big companies try to release games as soon as possible but they are often buggy and the strategy to dealing with that is to release a “Day One” patch which should iron out most of the issues. These patches may not work with pirated copies but they will work fine for games you purchased through video game sales.

Piracy rates for video games are also dropping because games are simply easier to acquire these days. Digital distribution methods make it real simple to go from purchasing the game using your credit card or payment processor to enjoying the game right on your computer. And if you decide to delete the game, you may easily install it in another computer since a purchased game gives you the privilege of downloading it again. Just keep that serial number safe if your game requires it. These digital distribution platforms are also where the video game sales are, so check those pages frequently so you can save. Those savings can go to DLC or downloadable content which often add new features to the game. Or you can save that money to buy other discounted games. Forget about piracy already.