Doom 3 reels from pre-release piracy epidemic

Id Software and Activision have experienced a few hiccups in bringing the long-awaited Doom 3 to market. With various delays affecting the launch, then retailers selling units before the official release date, it has been far from smooth sailing.

What’s far worse for the companies involved, however, is the enormous scale of piracy already plaguing the much-lauded FPS. According to a recent BBC report, a single instance over the weekend saw over 50,000 users of a peer-to-peer network all downloading full versions of the game. Although accurate estimates of the total file shares are inherently vague, they have pointed towards a value between $1 million and $2.75 million, which for a game that hasn’t even been released yet, is quite preposterous.

This comes only a few days after ELSPA had proudly proclaimed that software piracy in the UK was being effectively addressed. Whilst PS2 mod-chips might now be officially illegal, that bears little relevance to this particular issue. Because Doom 3 is a PC game, there is a clear crossover between the types of people who use file sharing networks and those who want to get their hands on a copy of the game. And with key-gen files also prevalent on these same networks, it is extremely difficult for Activision to rely on existing copy protection mechanisms.

It will be interesting to see to what extent this problem affects the overall sales of Doom 3, which had been identified by industry analysts as a key title in pushing PC games sales to hitherto unforeseen levels. How Activision addresses the file sharing issue could also have significant repercussions in the future.

If and when iD or Activision issue an official response, we will update you.