Is Game Sharing Piracy?

HarveyHouston · Jun 27, 2020

Some interesting discussions were raised in this thread about how game sharing may be considered piracy, so I would like to know how many people agree to this.

For those who don't know, basically game sharing is the ability for a user account who has bought a game to share that one game with other accounts without them having to buy a separate copy. Some examples include Steam and Microsoft Store on the PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. Consoles that do not allow game sharing or limit it include the Nintendo Switch, the Wii U, and most older consoles.

No TL;DR wall of text here. Just vote in the poll and comment below about your decision!

HarveyHouston · Jun 27, 2020

Mods and admins of GBAtemp are, of course, welcome to comment on this too, as I am well aware of the Terms and Conditions regarding "warez", or the free distribution of paid games. I do not encourage this kind of activity. This is meant to be a discussion ONLY, not an ad for piracy.

Opinions may differ, but rules are rules. :teach:

Tom Bombadildo · Jun 27, 2020

So long as the company in question allows it, like those mentioned above, no. Simple as that.

But, in general, I wouldn't call that piracy any more than I would sharing a physical copy with a friend, same principal but you're just doing it digitally.

All digital stores really need to start jumping on the "resale/trading" of digital copies already, especially as physical discs are going to start phasing out as games become larger and larger and more difficult/impractical to store on physical media.

dAVID_ · Jun 27, 2020

If the copyright holder allows it, it is not copyright infringement, at least in the U.S.

If you're referring to copying games (like sending a friend a link to a ROM file) then yes, that is considered copyright infringement in the U.S.

FAST6191 · Jun 27, 2020

Are you playing more copies of the game than you have copies of? No? All good then.

HarveyHouston · Jun 27, 2020

FAST6191 said:
Are you playing more copies of the game than you have copies of?

Say that five times really fast.

Taleweaver · Jun 27, 2020

Virtual games have a disadvantage over physical games in that without restrictions, they can be copied and distributed with just about anyone. So it's not that developers want you to buy copies for every member of your house, but it's a side effect of the fear that piracy becomes too easy to do (why can't I share my video game with a random dude on the internet, huh?). That's why couch coop is not an issue, but multiple consoles can be problematic.

Steam solved this problem by requiring being online at all times. This way you can share, but the restriction of only having one game be playable prevents you to share outside your family (I don't control what random dude on the internet plays, but I don't share it - let alone give distribution options - if that could mean I can't play the game because it's already being played).

The way I see it, console users want to have their cake AND eat it,which isn't fair. Steam sharing won't work when one of the accounts is offline, but plenty of console owners don't want their device on their wifi. To me, Nintendo tries to maintain a way to make everyone happy, though that results in a pretty wonky way of doing things (primary console? Accounts tied to console except when they are not? I... Don't really follow).

Anyhow... No matter what sharing system : if it's allowed by the company, it's allowed (I... Don't think anyone will deny that fact). By the same logic : if it's restricted by companies, it's restricted. Developers and platform owners (steam, Nintendo,...) have the sole right for distribution (unless they forsake that right, which is a different discussion), so any sort of leniency is a plus.

T-hug · Jun 27, 2020

It's not piracy because you're allowed to do it without any circumvention.

godreborn · Jun 27, 2020

the moment companies treat their customers like criminals, they're going to act like criminals. look at the vita. it's virtually unplayable as a legit user.

Olmectron · Jun 27, 2020

HarvHouHacker said:
Some interesting discussions were raised in this thread about how game sharing may be considered piracy, so I would like to know how many people agree to this.

For those who don't know, basically game sharing is the ability for a user account who has bought a game to share that one game with other accounts without them having to buy a separate copy. Some examples include Steam and Microsoft Store on the PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. Consoles that do not allow game sharing or limit it include the Nintendo Switch, the Wii U, and most older consoles.

No TL;DR wall of text here. Just vote in the poll and comment below about your decision!

I'm not sure why you say "do not allow game sharing or limit" and only put Nintendo Switch in there. About Wii U, yeah. But Switch has actually a way of sharing games very similar to Steam.

Steam accounts are always online. If you are offline, you CAN'T play a game someone shared with you, even if you already installed it in the PC you are using. This sounds very similar to the way you can share on Nintendo Switch. Excepting that the Switch way is more confusing.

Also, even if you are online in Steam, you can't be playing the same game in two devices at the same time. As in, let's say you are playing Undertale in PC 1. And your friend wants to play in PC 2. So you share your library of games with him. Your friend won't be able to play Undertale until you stop playing it.

And if he/she is playing and at the same time you try to start playing, since you are the owner of the account it will open alright. But he/she will receive a notification about paying for the game to keep playing OR exiting the game because you started it. This was taken from the FAQ in about Steam Family Sharing:

When I authorize a device to lend my library to others, do I limit my own ability to access and play my games?
As the account holder, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when another user is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

It's basically the same way it works in the Switch. But I agree that it's harder to understand since Nintendo confuses people a lot with the primary and secondary account thing.

FAST6191 · Jun 27, 2020

Taleweaver said:
So it's not that developers want you to buy copies for every member of your house,

Are these the same people that tell me second hand games are like stealing food directly from the mouths of their children?

Goku1992A · Jun 27, 2020

No this is like Netflix.... although Netflix doesnt like it but it's all totally legal. All you do is share your profile with others many companies already allow this

Taleweaver · Jun 27, 2020

FAST6191 said:
Are these the same people that tell me second hand games are like stealing food directly from the mouths of their children?

Generally, no... That's just microsoft overestimating the popularity of their console.

Joking aside : I'm sure some devs would rather skip couch Co - op in order to increase sales where others hope to sell more by allowing game sharing (which works more indirectly). I admit it was a bit presumptuous to assume everyone is in the latter group, but I honestly believe most just want to get their game out in the public foremost.

linuxares · Jun 27, 2020

not really no. I hope more places do it. I loved swapping NES and SNES games with friends when I were a kid.

Deleted User · Jun 27, 2020

Olmectron said:
Steam accounts are always online. If you are offline, you CAN'T play a game someone shared with you, even if you already installed it in the PC you are using

Actually.... :teach:

Yes you can. You must start in online-mode, but if the library you want to use is free, you are able to start the game and then go to offline mode or simply turn your wifi/lan off. This will also free the library for others to use, so yes, multiple people can play a game from the same library at the same time. I know this because I shared my Steam library with my brother... when asking why I can't see him playing anything, he said he has done this since he plays only singleplayer games anyway.

Then again I haven't seen much problem with the library locking. I've also shared my steam library to my girlfriend too, and if she's playing something from my Steam library, I'll just play something from Epic, or some DRM free game, or just do something else.

I think the current restrictions for virtual properties are decent, and I don't have any problem with them. I very rarely buy games that are more than 20 euros anyways. If I want to play something with a friend at the same time, the price for that is pretty low. Also Epic and other sites are constantly giving free quality games, so there is constant surplus of games to play.

Steam also released their Remote Play Together which developers can opt in. It allows streaming your game to your friends, while their inputs are streamed back to you. So you are able to play singlescreen/shared screen games over the internet. If the game has both online and splitscreen, this allows the game to be played online with your buddies with a single copy of the game. I think this generally increases the players and buyers, rather than less copies sold...

--

I believe gamesharing and some slight misuse is very minor problem compared to pure piracy (nobody pays for the game) or the gray markets or after market stores for digital keys. In the best case scenario, the latter is just you buying the game from somebody else... who probably bought it from some bundle. The less good option is that you are buying from another location. Virtual markets showing different prices are not very good solution, but buying with eg. 3rd world country prices when you shouldn't, you probably avoid taxes and severely damage income of the game company (which does not hurt big companies so much, but indies, yes). The worst case option is that the original game was bought with stolen credit card, or some guy solds copies he got by faking to be a "social media influencer" or otherwise gotten illegally... The video game company can ban the key, but what would you do other than whine if your copy was illegal and suddenly disappeared? So in these cases the company, or in case of indies, sometimes a single person will pay for the game you got. Several indies have actually pleaded people to rather pirate their games than buying them from kinguin/g2a and such...

Deleted User · Jun 27, 2020

if it's piracy, then things like ps4 and steam wouldn't have a game sharing system in place, simple

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Olmectron said:
Also, even if you are online in Steam, you can't be playing the same game in two devices at the same time. As in, let's say you are playing Undertale in PC 1. And your friend wants to play in PC 2. So you share your library of games with him. Your friend won't be able to play Undertale until you stop playing it.

original owner goes into offline mode and plays one game, person 2 can play a 2nd game at the same time

Olmectron · Jun 27, 2020

arq said:
Actually....

Yes you can. You must start in online-mode, but if the library you want to use is free, you are able to start the game and then go to offline mode or simply turn your wifi/lan off. This will also free the library for others to use, so yes, multiple people can play a game from the same library at the same time. I know this because I shared my Steam library with my brother... when asking why I can't see him playing anything, he said he has done this since he plays only singleplayer games anyway.

Then again I haven't seen much problem with the library locking. I've also shared my steam library to my girlfriend too, and if she's playing something from my Steam library, I'll just play something from Epic, or some DRM free game, or just do something else.

I think the current restrictions for virtual properties are decent, and I don't have any problem with them. I very rarely buy games that are more than 20 euros anyways. If I want to play something with a friend at the same time, the price for that is pretty low. Also Epic and other sites are constantly giving free quality games, so there is constant surplus of games to play.

Steam also released their Remote Play Together which developers can opt in. It allows streaming your game to your friends, while their inputs are streamed back to you. So you are able to play singlescreen/shared screen games over the internet. If the game has both online and splitscreen, this allows the game to be played online with your buddies with a single copy of the game. I think this generally increases the players and buyers, rather than less copies sold...

--

I believe gamesharing and some slight misuse is very minor problem compared to pure piracy (nobody pays for the game) or the gray markets or after market stores for digital keys. In the best case scenario, the latter is just you buying the game from somebody else... who probably bought it from some bundle. The less good option is that you are buying from another location. Virtual markets showing different prices are not very good solution, but buying with eg. 3rd world country prices when you shouldn't, you probably avoid taxes and severely damage income of the game company (which does not hurt big companies so much, but indies, yes). The worst case option is that the original game was bought with stolen credit card, or some guy solds copies he got by faking to be a "social media influencer" or otherwise gotten illegally... The video game company can ban the key, but what would you do other than whine if your copy was illegal and suddenly disappeared? So in these cases the company, or in case of indies, sometimes a single person will pay for the game you got. Several indies have actually pleaded people to rather pirate their games than buying them from kinguin/g2a and such...

That's a workaround to the actual behavior.

I remember a friend of mine doing something like that too. But that's not what would be expected, given how if you both STAY ONLINE, it wouldn't let you play the same game at the same time unless you both paid for it.

I was talking more about the way OP says Steam allows Game Sharing and the Nintendo Switch doesn't, when their way of game sharing is very similar to Steam's way; although more confusing.

Is Game Sharing Piracy?

Do YOU think that game sharing is illegal?

No, never! I would distribute copies freely if the companies would let me.

No, but only under certain circumstances. The companies have a right to restrict this.

Yes, always. Allowing game sharing at all is wrong, even if a company allows it.

I wouldn't know. I usually don't play with other people! (The "Cop Out" Response)

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