Piracy Isn't Such a Bad Thing, Says Maker of Angry Birds

Angry Birds developer Rovio believes that piracy may not be a bad thing after all, and that the media industries can attract new "fans" -- or rather potential paying customers -- by actually embracing those that steal from them. Rovio chief executive Mikael Hed made this revelation during the Midem conference in Cannes on Monday, claiming that fighting pirates is simply "futile."

"Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day," he said.

But that doesn't mean Rovio won't stand up for its rights. In some cases, the company will pursue pirates through the courts if the products they are selling are harmful yo the Angry Birds brand, or ripping off its fans. Otherwise, Rovio doesn't plan to take the music industry's route by suing everyone under the sun, even those who are dead and buried.

"We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps, but also especially in the consumer products," Hed told the audience. "There is tons and tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products. We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy."

Hed said the music industry's actions have changed Rovio's view on consumers. Instead of users, they are now fans -- even those who pirate Rovio's popular Angry Birds apps.

"We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans," he said. "We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have. If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow."

Rovio now considers its Angry Birds apps as "channels" instead of games, as consumers are reportedly spending so much time flinging birds with a slingshot, that the apps are actually competing with the most popular TV shows here in the States in terms of time spent. That said, pirated Rovio apps can still make revenue for the company by channeling additional content to those naughty "fans" much like Zynga did with Lady Gaga and Michael Buble in its Facebook games.

"Already our apps are becoming channels, and we can use that channel to cross-promote – to sell further content," he said. "The content itself has transformed into the channel, and the traditional distribution channels are no longer the kingmakers."

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then, he’s loved all things PC-related and cool gadgets ranging from the New Nintendo 3DS to Android tablets. He is currently a contributor at Digital Trends, writing about everything from computers to how-to content on Windows and Macs to reviews of the latest laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and more. 

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  • sixdegree
    Rovio has a very, very positive view about piracy and how to elegantly solve it. Respect to you, Rovio.
    Reply
  • djtronika
    like, yo.
    Reply
  • acadia11
    A brain.
    Reply
  • Because they make their money off advertising. Duh. Their games are nothing, its like a month's worth of work from a small team.

    If they started spending 8-9 figures to create real games, and rely solely on the money from sales to recoup their investment they would change their opinion overnight.
    Reply
  • the_krasno
    That's the way everyone should see piracy. Me? I'm a pirate. Do I purchase games, music and movies? Yes, the ones I liked. How else am I gonna decide whether or not to buy a game that lacks a demo?
    If you go to a car dealership and ask to have a test drive they won't call the cops on you, calling you a thief. Instead, you actually get to have a feel of how it drives, and then make an informed decision.

    Same thing with games, go for a spin and buckle up the credit card. Or erase the whole damn thing and torch it so it doesn't come back to haunt you in case it was horrible.

    Not all pirates are the pillage and burn them type, some of us just want to find a sweet game and then show our gratitude by actually purchasing it.
    Reply
  • fb39ca4
    im gonna go pirate angry birds...
    Reply
  • cloudberry
    stm1185Because they make their money off advertising. Duh. Their games are nothing, its like a month's worth of work from a small team. If they started spending 8-9 figures to create real games, and rely solely on the money from sales to recoup their investment they would change their opinion overnight.
    I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume we're not talking US dollars here.
    Reply
  • mrsphex
    Just to point it out, there is a typo in this article. Says yo instead of to.
    Reply
  • bokuden
    Of course they're pro-piracy. They completely ripped off and made millions from Crush the Castle's design.
    Reply
  • I pirate things that I'm unsure about. I'll use something for a few hours and if I don't like it (like the shitty mouse control in Skyrim)... gone! Glad I didn't waste $60 on something I hate.. On the other hand, I'm glad I spent the $1500 on Visual Studio Ultimate because I like the HUGE feature difference between the Express edition and the retail edition...

    Its an unrestricted demo, in my opinion.
    Reply