Doom 3 - tipped by industry experts as this year`s hottest title - has been leaked onto the Internet, and thousands of gamers have already downloaded copies.
However, South Africans hoping to pirate it are likely to be disappointed.
While the game was officially launched in the US today, the local launch is only due on 13 August. Philip Court, MD of local Doom 3 distributor Megarom Interactive, says although the number of downloads have been significant, it will not have any real impact on local sales.
"According to statistics, there were 50 000 copies downloaded by yesterday, but most of that will have been in the US and Asia. We expect less than a thousand illegal downloads locally, while we are looking at sales of around 10 000 for the first two months, so we won`t really be impacted," says Court.
Editor of gaming magazine NAG Michael James says the lack of bandwidth in SA is a significant factor in preventing local downloads.
"Basically, the people with the bigger bandwidth move higher up the queue. So, while people in the States are probably able to download the file quite easily, it would probably take about a week to download the file in SA.
"It is actually the popularity of the game that is making it so difficult to pirate," he says.
James says the people responsible for leaking the game are most likely pirates known for cracking games - modifying a program to bypass its anti-piracy encryption. "Basically these people pride themselves on cracking games and getting them on the Net before their friends do."
James says the news that Doom 3 was leaked will come as little surprise to its developers, and there is generally not much that can be done to stop it. "It`s pretty much expected, much like any other game. Companies can invest a lot of time and money into tracking down people who do this - the makers of Half Life 2 did so, arrested the people, and the case is pending - but that was a rare case. Basically the Internet is anonymous; there`s not much you can do.
"Given the high profile of Doom 3 in the gaming market, piracy levels will be higher, but most consumers will opt to purchase a legal copy," says James.
"You can attribute that to enthusiasm - people will want to own a box with Doom 3 on it. It`s just the sentiment."
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