The numbers only relate to the multiplayer portion of the ArmA titles, with Bohemia Interactive CEI, Marek Å panÄ›l, citing that the numbers are probably much worse for the single player half. Luckily, instead of resorting to DRM like most publishers, Bohemia has found a more creative way to deal with pirates.

Implemented in all Bohemia titles is a little piece of tech called DEGRADE. Basically, those that have pirated ArmA and attempt to play online will have much lower accuracy with automatic weapons, and as time goes on equipment will eventually begin to… well, degrade. While Bohemia couldn’t reveal how this has impacted piracy, it has helped them discover the aforementioned ration of buyers to pirates.

Španěl also spoke of the more traditional DRM methods publishers have been employing. Unfortunately, due to these piracy rates, many publishers find it difficult to recoup their investment, which leads to intrusive DRM, though this method can backfire and cause more piracy in the future. Bohemia is trying to circumvent this issue with DEGRADE, as well as by removing conventional DRM shortly after release.

Hopefully Bohemia is able to find success with this method as it will deter other developers/publishers from incorporating DRM into their games. Even the once PC centric franchise S.TA.L.K.E.R may be getting DRM in its sequel. While piracy is certainly a huge issue, legitimate consumers should not be punished as a result.

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Source: PC Gamer