UKIE: Piracy cost £1.5bn in 2010

UKIE has reported that pirated video games may have cost the industry around 1.5bn in sales last year.

The trade body has reported that several publishers have claimed illegally downloaded games could outnumber those sold legitimately by as much as 4:1 – and UKIE director general Michael Rawlinson claims that even a 1:1 ratio would be severe.

Based on 2010 games sales figures, even if only one illegal game was downloaded or physically copied for every legal game sold this would have cost the industry 1.5bn last year,” he said.

[With a 4:1 piracy ratio], the true scale of the cost to the UK’s video games industry could be greater than this.

Money from piracy goes to criminals and not to local businesses and the UK’s economy; it gives gamers sub-standard gaming experiences and it unfairly damages the individuals and small businesses who’s hard work creates the games in the first place.”