EndWar PC Coming After Consoles Due to Piracy; PC Pirates Would 'Cannibalize' Console Sales

October 8, 2008 8:12 AM

Following up on yesterday's report that a PC release of Tom Clancy's EndWar is likely, creative director Michael de Plater has now revealed that piracy is to blame for the delayed PC version of the Ubisoft Shanhai-developed voice-controlled RTS game.

"To be honest, if PC wasn't pirated to hell and back, there'd probably be a PC version coming out the same day as the other two," Plater told VG247. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of EndWar arrive November 7.

"The level of piracy that you get with the PC just cannibalizes the others, because people just steal that version," he elaborated. "Piracy's basically killing PC."

In addition to Ubisoft, publisher Electronic Arts is also known to delay PC versions until after a game hits consoles, though it has not explicitly cited piracy as the cause.

For example, EA Redwood Shores' Dead Space hits PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 14, with the PC version coming the next week. And DICE's Mirror's Edge, once slated to ship simultaneously on consoles and PC, will now hit PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 11 while the PC version is targeted for a vague "winter" release window.

Chris Faylor

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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sanewave

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October 8, 2008 8:14 AM

geesh, if the game is good it will sell. just make it that if you play online it has to verify. endwar would be ok single player, but if its really good, youll want the whole damned thing right? fucking finger pointers make me sick.
- Clench
  
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  October 8, 2008 8:27 AM
  
  Im really getting tired of game companies blaming piracy instead of their own shit games. If they make a game that is actually worth buying(and charged a reasonable price), more people would buy it. If they keep releasing the same shit over and over with no innovation, pirates are going to keep pirating. MMO games don't seem to have much of a piracy problem, that's because they actually come with enough content to warrant a $50 price tag.
- ElArabDeMagnifico
  
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  October 8, 2008 8:33 AM
  
  This needs front page bubble.
- bdiddy74
  
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  October 8, 2008 8:42 AM
  
  agreed. bring out great games and people will buy your shit. from a business standpoint, I get it. but do something about it instead of fucking complaining. you have a market for PC games. that can not be denied. spend a little more time in trying to protect your product without being so invasive. Stop letting shitty console ports go out the door with no high res options. bottom line, make a great game, show the PC community that you actually put some effort into their edition and people will buy your shit....
  
  PS. fuck all pirates with a dirty dildo. you are giving us a bad name.