On February 22, the Amsterdam based computer games manufacturer Guerillla Games will present their newest game Killzone 3. Its predecessor Killzone 2 has sold more than one million copies and, pending the official release, the new game is praised by critics all over the world.

Earlier this week, however, it was revealed that the game has been pirated and that illegal copies can allready be downloaded on the Internet. Hermen Hulst, managing director of Guerrilla, told breakfast news show ‘Ochtendspits’ that they are not overly concerned about this.

The Killzone games are a huge hit among gamers. The new release of Killzone has turned into one of the most important Dutch export products of 2011 in the entertainment sector. But one week before the game is actually for sale, Killzone 3 can be downloaded for free on torrent sites like thePirateBay.org. "That has never happened before in a game for the PlayStation 3, " said Matthijs Dierckx of Control Magazine, a magazine for the gaming industry. "Most people are not aware of it, but there is more money involved in the games industry than in the film business. Killzone 3 is the biggest entertainment production in the Netherlands ever."

Insiders expect that the potential harm of the illegal copies is immense. Nevertheless, Hermen Hulst of Guerrilla Games did not seem to worry about it too much. Obviously, he is not happy with the theft of his product, but he is not completely caught by surprise. The games producer admitted that he had allready anticipated a certain degree of loss due to illegal copying, it simply happens in the year 2011. Yet, Mr. Hulst expects that many gamers with an illegal version will eventually buy the official game. "The copycats will discover that Killzone 3 is well protected against copying. When you use a copied game on the Playstation, for example, you cannot connect to the Internet;" said Mr. Hulst on a breakfast television show today.

Without internet access, the game offers limited options. Thus, the real fans will not be satisfied with a fake version. If new players get acquainted with Killzone by means of a free download, they are also likely to get curious of online gameplay. So, if Mr. Hulst is right, the downloads might even turn out to be an unexpected trailer for his game.

Sources: (Dutch) De Pers, ‘Ochtendspits’ (WNL, Feb. 18, 2011)