We’ve noticed from observing the internet that piracy still remains a hot topic amongst developers and the public alike. With staunch opinions on both sides of the fence it’s clear to us that the status quo of internet comment threads is in serious jeopardy. Statistical data leads us to believe that we’re approximately six months away from a complete piracy meltdown. With that in mind, Mersey Remakes has the answers to the most asked question by developers – “How do I stop people from pirating my game?”

By observing gaming trends across the board from indie games to commercial, we can narrow down the field of issues and come up with a series of foolproof solutions to the piracy issue. The simple truth is that for all the talk on piracy, no-one has yet completed an in depth study as to how to combat the issues that arise. We at Mersey Remakes undertook such a task. For the past five years we’ve been collating facts, figures and information on trends in gaming and more pertinently in piracy to come up with a series of foolproof solutions.

Game developers, stop resting upon your laurels. The time to take the lead is now. Let us band together as one, follow the simple steps outlined here and stop the evil from spreading further before the internet caves in on itself.

The answer is staring you in the face, you just never noticed.

It’s so simple it hurts. Since the arrival of the Xbox360, the art of the achievement has been one that’s caused much discussion. There are folks that see little point in them, to these people they are simply things that other people obsess over. For a large proportion of the market, achievements are a necessary addition to gaming. Whereas 5 years ago it was the ability to modify a game to suit your needs or a compulsive multiplayer component, these days our tastes are much more refined. We want games that tell us we’ve done A Good Thing. Achievements are positive reinforcement that we’ve done A Good Thing.

If we, as developers, are willing to spend 20 minutes of our precious time coding in a message to congratulate the user on pushing a toilet off a cliff onto another players head during an especially heated round of Space Invaders Online: The Next Generation Arises then the natural extension of this is to use achievements to combat piracy.

We can use the positive reinforcement of Achievements for The Greater Good (The Greater Good). Think about it for a second. If one gamer is willing to plumb 500 hours into a game, merely to reach an arbitrarily assigned number of headshots in Animal Crossing: Revenge On Tom Nook, then we can use this time sinking need for reassurance to suit our own needs. It’s a known and widely acknowledged fact that the vast majority of pirates are what some like to term “Hardcore Gamers”. It’s a known and widely acknowledged fact that “Hardcore Gamers” like Achievements. Do you see?

So here it is, dear readers, the answer to the piracy issue.

We tie our achievements in to anti piracy measures.

It’s so simple it’s brilliant and it simply cannot fail. Have you purchased the game from a store? “Achievement Unlocked: Bricks & Mortar – 50 Points”. Have you inserted the disc into the drive? “Achievement Unlocked: Drive By – 50 Points”. By giving them cool names, we’re making anti-piracy measures cool again.

Developers, use your imagination.

It won’t be long before all the kids will be proudly displaying their badges on websites, arguing whether getting “Achievement Unlocked: Direct Sale – 50 Points” is technically worth more than “Achievement Unlocked: Bricks & Mortar – 50 Points”. Whole websites will spring up to track the statistics and allow people to share in the glorious love in of righteous achievement hunting.

The knock on effect will be astounding.

According to our statistics, the transition from uncool to cool will take approximately 13 days. Think about that, in 13 days you’ll have solved the piracy issue in no time whatsoever just by taking something people love to achieve and turning it into something cynical.

We need a concerted movement and we need it now. Developers, rest ye no more, let the achieving commence and in 14 days time, we can add “Achievement Unlocked: Total World Domination – 1000 points” to our canon.