Deep Silver CEO: Publisher Must Learn To Live With Piracy

Deep Silver CEO: Publisher Must Learn To Live With Piracy Deep Silver CEO: Publisher Must Learn To Live With Piracy

Speaking to Penny Arcade Report, Deep Silver CEO Klemens Kundratitz explained that they treat piracy as given and that they don't try to fight it in any way.

"In a business plan, we typically ignore it," he said. "It's not something that is new, it's something that has been part of our business for decades... As a publisher, you just live with it."

Deep Silver currently has two blockbusters in market: Metro: Last Light and Saints Row IV. The studio acquired both IPs from THQ after it was liquidated. Nonetheless, both titles outsold their predecessors considerably on PC. "Console sales were bigger, no doubt... but PC has a very decent share and it has got a very active and committed community," said Kundratitz. "We keep them very much in focus."

Kundratitz acknowledged that high piracy rate on PC was the reason why Deep Silver decided not to release the PC version simultaneously with console versions. Nonetheless, he believes that the solution is not to avoid the platform altogether or to push paying customers away with draconian DRM.

"I think we just need to make sure that the games we publish are worth the money," he explained. "And certainly there is always this piracy situation that any publisher has. No publisher can tackle [it], really."