Do PC gamers need a new online defence system?

Davey Winder
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 17:02

Your IT - Entertainment

As BitDefender releases its GameSafe security product for online PC gamers into the UK market, we ask if it is actually all that new or exciting or necessary...

I guess that in the ever increasingly crowded security suite marketplace, vendors are always looking for a new niche to exploit. Something that can differentiate them from the crowd, albeit only briefly until the crowd release their own clones into the same niche.

Good examples of this in the past have been products specifically aimed at spyware detection and removal, stand-alone spam filters and, of course, my personal favourite the mobile phone anti-virus scanner.

Now BitDefender has announced the UK availability of another new niche security product: anti-virus for gamers.

BitDefender GameSafe is, BitDefender insists, "a new antivirus defence package designed specifically for PC gamers."

Actually it isn't totally new as it was launched in the US earlier in the year, but I will let that slide. But why would a PC owning, online gaming type want to spend UKP £12.95 for an annual license for this particular product?

Focus Multimedia, which is handling the UK and Ireland distribution, says that it is essential for anyone who plays online games. Craig Johnson, managing director of Focus Multimedia, reckons ”BitDefender’s unique new security product contains powerful features that will give gamers a fast, seamless gaming experience, while keeping their computer safe from viruses and hackers.”

OK, so BitDefender has identified a need for a gaming security solution, it says, after receiving queries from aficionados who wanted to customise their security configuration to maximise performance without compromising security.

“Speed is a matter of life or (virtual) death for these guys, and since most conventional virus protection software can slow down processing performance, many players turn it off and play naked" BitDefender’s chief technical officer, Bogdan Dumitru reckons.

I'm not sure I want to dwell on your average gaming nerd naked at the PC, but does Dumitru have a point and why haven't the other security vendors thought of it? The answers to these questions and more on page 2...

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