Cheating, tampering and piracy in gaming: Are you worried enough?

If you’re a game developer, you’re probably very well aware of all the different risks that cheating, tampering and piracy mean to player engagement and your business. Decreased engagement and ensuing bad reputation, lost revenue – these options are all realistic if you don’t act.

But how aware of these risks are other game developers and the industry as a whole? Are they worried enough? We’ve checked it out – read on for more!

How worried is the gaming industry?

Our recent survey ran on a panel of developers representing a wide range of geographies and device types within the game development industry shows that 70% of game developers find cheating a concern. And when asked about tampering and piracy, 84% of respondents had a similar feeling. But when we dug deeper and asked about the level of concern, only 39% and 56% respectively admitted a moderate or major concern.

If you think of it, these are surprisingly low percentages. What about the remaining 61% and 44% respectively? Why aren’t they worried about the common problems that industry is facing?

How big is the threat?

Revenue loss seems to be the driving concern with over 70% citing this as the number one issue. Simply put, tampering and piracy pose an immediate threat to both the gross sales and the net income of the game developers. With cheating, however, for 69% a reduction in user engagement is the top concern – which makes perfect sense as it usually precedes revenue loss.

When asked to estimate the revenue loss attributable to cheats and pirates, nearly 20% of respondents felt that 6% or more of their revenue had been affected by foul play and 16% believed they were entirely unaffected by this. Tellingly, nearly 40% more simply didn’t know to what degree they had been affected. In other words, 4 in 10 game developers have no idea how much they lose because of dirty tricks!

What should you do?

Naturally, anti-cheat and anti-tamper services are widely used and proven tools to protect any game, the overall gaming experience and the developers’ revenue. That is, if you are aware of their existence. Only 71% of PC game makers and 38% of mobile developers can say that they are. And an astounding 26% of mobile developers and 46% of PC game makers who are aware of anti-cheat solutions, do not wish to make use of them!

Conclusion

If these numbers come as a surprise, we’re glad they do. The industry still needs to reevaluate its thinking of the risks involved in foul play and methods of protecting their businesses. The final fact that may help them in doing so is this: 93% of those who use anti-cheat and anti-tamper software say they are satisfied with the protection of their games. And that’s quite something.

Want to discuss your business’ cybersecurity needs? Reach out to us now!