What's needed is a greater understanding of the myriad of reasons and circumstances causing people to pirate, and a more nuanced approach to tackling its dangers and addressing its needs. There's never going to be a single, silver bullet that ends video game piracy. Only through engaging (and learning from) the many root causes of the problem can the industry and those making games hope to get on top of it.

Some companies know this, and should be applauded! Riot Games has shown that even broke-ass teenagers can enjoy a game, become super-fans and spend money (when they can) with League of Legends. Steam's design and sales strategy is clearly beating piracy at its own game, both in terms of acting as DRM and encouraging purchases through ease of use.

But there's still so much work left to do. Nintendo's back catalogue pricing is out of step with a world accustomed to $2 remakes on a mobile store, as is their insistence on charging you for the same game on different platforms. Publishers trying to implement their own forms of DRM may be stopping a few pirates, but they're testing the patience of many more legitimate customers. The massive discrepancies in the pricing of digital goods around the world needs to stop. As does region-locking. And concessions need to be made, whether by lawmakers or publishers, to the needs of historians and educators.