3D Games Corp Blog

The recent 5,000-player ban simply is not enough for the developers behind StarCraft II. Blizzard is now targeting those who are responsible for the hacks present within the game. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court of Los Angeles, names three programmers that allegedly created and sold hacks for StarCraft II.

The named programmers, two Canadians and a Peruvian, are the targets of the lawsuit. Though others are attached to the suit, there are no more individually identified persons.

“Just days after the release of StarCraft II, Defendants already had developed, marketed, and distributed to the public a variety of hacks and cheats designed to modify (and in fact destroy) the StarCraft II online game experience,” said the company in the filing. ”In fact, on the very day that StarCraft II was released, representatives of the hacks Web site advised members of the public that ‘our staff is already planning new releases for this game’.”

Blizzard is striking at the accused by alleging copyright infringement. The suit states that the hackers attempted to “induce others to commit infringement” as well. Blizzard hopes to strip the defendants of any profits gained through the creation of hacks, as well as seeking damages.

“The harm to Blizzard from Defendants’ conduct is immediate, massive and irreparable,” continues the suit. “By distributing the Hacks to the public, Defendants cause serious harm to the value ofStarCraft II. Among other things, Defendants irreparably harm the ability of Blizzard’s legitimate customers (i.e. those who purchase and use unmodified games) to enjoy and participate in the competitive online experience.”

“That, in turn, causes users to grow dissatisfied with the game, lose interest in the game, and communicate that dissatisfaction, thereby resulting in lost sales of the game or ‘add-on’ packs and expansions thereto,” says the suit.

Take-Two is not worried about the growing power of digital distribution in gaming.  The publisher is in fact welcoming it, as Take-Two now sees about 40% of its business going through digital means in the next three years. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn’t believe that digital distribution will result in the cannibalization of current physical retail models either.

“Right now, digital distribution of our interactive entertainment represents something less than 15 percent of our revenue, and that’s clearly growing,” Zelnick told Bloomberg Television’s “Inside Track” program. “Packaged goods isn’t going away for our business… because we have huge file sizes,” he added.

“It’s pretty hard to interact with huge file sizes where latency issues are meaningful, if you’re entirely in the cloud,” Zelnick continued, but he sees OnLive as concept proved when it comes to tackling the problem. OnLive is “doing a phenomenal job of addressing that challenge”  –  such a good job, that Take-Two supports the company’s endeavors.

The digital model is growing, and Zelnick is sure that platforms such as the iPad are showing what digital can do. He predicts 20 million units sold this year, 60 million next year and 200 million by 2014. That kind of platform growth is “pretty remarkable,” he commented.

With Take-Two offering Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the iPad, the company is looking to expand its revenues from tablet computers.

“It’s small for tablet, because we support largely consoles,” he explained. “That’s the bulk of our business… because it allows us to do incredibly robust products. However, what’s exciting about the tablet revolution… is that tablets are going to become more and more robust platforms, and allow you to do incredible things. And they’re portable, and they’re cheap and they’re getting cheaper.”

“I think you can see digital distribution to be 20, 30, 40 percent of our business,” in three years, said Zelnick. “However, I believe our business is going to grow. So I don’t think it actually takes a bite out of retail, and I doubt it takes a bite out of consoles.”

“I think it’s a growth business; I think for interactive entertainment, everything grows, the wind is at our back,” he added.

“While we’re not exactly platform-agnostic… the fact that a middle-sized platform is going to grow is phenomenal news for us. The most important news for us is, how great is our next title.”

[Thanks Gamasutra]

A new gaming conference has been announced and will be debuting next year in May. The Canadian Games Conference is looking to highlight the ever-growing Canadian gaming community, and will take place in Vancouver in May.

The event is being organized by Reboot Communications, and will feature a “Best of GDC” content track, including some of the top leaders in the industry.

“Our conference efforts in the game space have always been for the industry, by the industry,” said Reboot CEO Greg Spievak. “Our Canadian Games Conference advisory board is made of key representatives from across the country – and we expect the same vibrant growth and stimulating sessions that have defined our game events for the past four years.”

UMB TechWeb Game Network’s global brand director Simon Carless added, “We’re delighted to continue working with Reboot and the Canadian game industry by contributing the ‘Best Of GDC’ track to the Canadian Games Conference – and look forward to supporting the conference and awards as one of the leading events in this vibrant space.”

The event is set for May 19-20 at the Vancouver Conference Center. The Canadian Videogame awards will precede the event and keynotes will be announced soon.