James Delahunty
1 Apr 2007 16:37
Game publisher Zuxxez, known for its title Earth 2160, has decided to pursue British file sharers after discovering that downloads of Earth 2160 outstripped its retail sales 35 times. Between the release on 1 June 2005 and 18 December 2006, Zuxxez found 891,414 people attempting to download Earth 2160. The company has sold has sold 25,000 units of Earth 2160 in the UK, reaching #4 in the charts.
While monitoring sharing activity, the company found 10,000 UK uploaders. Dirk Hassinger, sales director at Zuxxez, said the firm wanted to clamp down on file sharing but was worried about the cost of pursuing 10,000 people. So, the company decided to test it out on a smaller game, Pinball 3D.
Law firm Davenport Lyons is now pursuing 500 sharers of Dream Pinball 3D on the publishers behalf in the UK. In Germany, Schutt-Waetke, another law firm, targeted 18,000 sharers Earth 2160, 8,000 of which have agreed to stop file sharing and have paid a fine. "In the UK, pirates are lucky because we get the address from the ISPs," said Hassinger, "In Germany we have to request with the police - and the state prosecutors go after them immediately."
He said that the company has no intentions of of making a business out of pursuing file sharers (which it was accused of after the German actions) and admitted that he was unsure whether or not file sharing had an effect on sales. "Normally, if you discuss this with file sharers, they say they wouldn't have bought the game anyway," he said, but added it's like saying, "I never would have bought a Ferrari if I hadn't pinched one".
Source:
The Register