With solutions ranging from the extreme decision to no longer support PC exclusive (Crytek) to BioWare's proposal of downloadable content and striving to maintain customer loyalty, every developer seems to have an idea for what it will take to overcome rampant software piracy. Dave Perry, co-creator of a number of UK-based video game television shows GamesMaster and Games World, as well as the man responsible for launching a number of UK games magazines, has proposed a radical solution: release games for free.

A move either too dumb to succeed or too brilliant to fail, Perry claims the model already works quite well in Asia. "They had so much piracy that they decided to stop charging for the games," Perry said after receiving an honorary doctorate in Belfast. "Instead, there'll be a charge for things you might want to use in the game. Your character might have a plain white T-shirt. If you wanted a nicer one you could have it for a dollar. Or perhaps you could buy a magic sword for a knight for a dollar."

Perry continued, stating that releasing entertainment software for free would "turn our industry on its head and I want to see the same thing happening in the USA and Europe."