East Side Hockey Manager 2007 cancelled due to piracy

[photon]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070131-8743.html

Development of a popular hockey sim, Eastside Hockey Manager 2007, has come to a close due to widespread piracy. In a post on the Sports Interactive forums, SI Managing Director Miles Jacobson announced that while the latest version of Eastside Hockey Manager had garnered good reviews, piracy of the title had prevented it from hitting the break-even point.

Interesting.. I think it's a bit odd to blame the piracy directly, they seem to be making the assumption that a high number of those pirated downloads would have purchased the game had the option to pirate not existed, something I don't agree with at all.

But still interesting.

[Bobblehead]

Interesting.. I think it's a bit odd to blame the piracy directly, they seem to be making the assumption that a high number of those pirated downloads would have purchased the game had the option to pirate not existed, something I don't agree with at all.

I always read about how much money Microsoft has lost due to piracy, or how much record companies lose and they trot out stats saying they believe X number of copies have been pirated and if they multiply that by the list price that is what they lost.

I don't think MS would be in the position they are in now if everyone and their brother hadn't taken Windows 3.1 (from work/friends or whatever), installed it on their home computers and learned their way arounds a computer.

To steal from South Park's underwear gnomes...
(who said
1-Collect Underpants
2-???
3-Profit!)


Write useful software
Turn a blind eye so people pirate it and eventually "need" it
Profit!

[Inferno]

Were crackers actually able to crack this year's version? I know they were able to get rid of the trial screen but the game still ended six months into the season.

[metallicat]

So this is the last year for EHM? BIG disappointment.

[The_Dude]

I don't believe the piracy issue. I download movies and stuff, but I could never ever find a pirated version of this game. I bought both last years and 2007.

I enjoy it a lot. I like using the editor.

[BlackArcher101]

I too would like to know where it was pirated. I was unable to find a cracked version of this years EHM, and I've been able to find previous ones quite easily. Either it's because:
a) It was uncrackable and they lied or,
b) It was cracked, but due to it being unpopular it never spread

If option b is the case, then who cares if it was pirated or not... the series was doomed to begin with.

Note to Mod: I'm not actually asking where the version is... just questioning if it was indeed pirated or not.

[Delthefunky]

I know last year you could get it from Emule, probably same this year

[Prototype]

I was in EB Games the other day and wondered why I hadn't seen this yet. It's too bad. I don't play many games on my computer, but was willing to shell out some moola to play this one.

[simonsays]

From what I gather EHM05 was widely pirated, thus they decided on web distribution only for Ehm07. While download only availability can make the software nearly unpiratable, it also makes it far less visable, and somewhat less purchasable.

To my understanding Sega didn't break even on any version of EHM, so pulling the plug was going to happen eventually. Blame piracy? Sure. No advertising? Maybe. It's a damn shame really, because it's such a great game. But it is a niche gaming genre based on a fairly niche sport.

[Jagger]

This is a shame as EHM is a great game. Part of the problem might very well be the HUGE success of SI's Football Manager series. This game is huge in Europe and elsewhere in the world, probably less so in NA. If the company is looking at the sales of this product, a fairly similar product actually just for soccer, and trying to compare it in any way to EHM then the hockey sim was sunk.

Oh well, the 07 version is great and I'll continue to play it. I'm sure there will be user mods out there to keep it going.

[LockedOut]

Did they even market this game at all? I buy PC Gamer every month and have never seen one ad for this game. I guess they might have advertised in sports magazines like the Hockey News but I don't know.

[CaramonLS]

Did they even market this game at all? I buy PC Gamer every month and have never seen one ad for this game. I guess they might have advertised in sports magazines like the Hockey News but I don't know.

They did an absolutely awful job marketing this game.

I know I heard one of the developers Riz on Kerr's sportsline show, but that is it. Nothing else as far as marketing goes. No internet campaign, no store distribution, nothing. I don't even think those magazines like IGN or PC gaming even had features on it. It is too bad they didn't try to put ads for it on NHL/NHLPA websites.

Also, apparently the direct download version WAS crackable - because you got a 6 month free trial (which you download at no charge), then you pretty much had to imput what amounted to a code to unlock the rest of the content.

Still, I love the game. It could be improved a fair bit, but I guess it will do just fine for now. The game is so amazingly addicting. If you are in the middle of exams or something important... or have a wife, DO NOT DL THIS GAME.

[metallicat]

I'm still confused here...did I not just purchase 2007? And is this the last year for the game now?

[Superfraggle]

I too purchased the game and love it. It really sucks that they would stop. Might it not have helped to release it in CD form, rather than as a download from their website? Gets out to a larger audience and at least adds another step or two for the pirates. Yar