my mistake then, from talking to people that have visited studios in China I got the idea that everyone ran on pirated software. Maybe it's like this mythical Tiki bar, I think Pixar has one but it's definitely far from the norm.
A lot of the cost of these tools comes from the support and help with integrating them into pipelines, taking feedback, bug tasks, etc. I wonder if at some ridiculously low prices the vendors actually lose money compared to if they pirated the tools instead. Not endorsing the practice, just speculating.
the thing that pisses me off about digital distribution is this: i have to pay the exact same amount to buy a digital version of a game, as i would have to pay to go and get the game from a store. the difference being - at the store i get a physical, tangible product. if the whole point of digital distribution is to cut…