/r/games what are your opinions on game piracy outside of 1st world countries, or basically lower income demographics?

As a human you have a right to access culture, and you shouldn't be locked out because you have a low income.

Every person on this planet watches movies, listen to music, and reads books they haven't paid for.

Acting like a "good person" and paying for everything you consume is easy when you're living in a First World country and have a high paying job. But the world is set up so that the majority of people can never be in such a position.

I say just use your own moral compass to do what you think is fair in any situation. There isn't a single answer. Don't pirate just to binge on video games. I would have no problem with someone pirating Bioshock, Shadow of the Colossus, or Journey if they couldn't otherwise afford it. Any artist worth a damn will also prefer you to just experience their creation if you can't afford it.

Video games can also provide some escape from poverty and desperate situations. It's a lot better to pirate a video game and stay inside than it is to be out on the streets with drugs, violence, and other anti-social behavior. Games can also be a good hunger suppressant.

In some examples great developers have gone out of business partially because of widespread piracy, but there are always other factors like games being too niche, or competing developers with bigger marketing budgets.

One thing I can't stand on Reddit is the canned response of "pirates just think they deserve free shit". To me this argument seems alien, and is probably the result of corporate sockpuppets manipulating the dialogue over the years. This is response of someone who only knows the Internet as Facebook and Reddit, and wouldn't know how to take apart a PC.

Personally, at the moment I'm in a situation where I don't need to pirate games. I just play one main game, have a PS+ subscription, and buy games when they're on sale (big backlog). The thing I'm poor on is time to actually play. If I find something I really love, and it's a niche or indie game I will buy copies for friends.

Only you know your own situation, so just do what you feel is fair. It's not like anyone can stop you anyway.

/r/Games Thread