Yee-ouch. According to GamePro.com, when it comes to PC games, “piracy rates for the U.S. market alone are hovering around 80%!”

These figures come courtesy of Michael Fitch, Director of Creative Management at game company THQ. His original post on the subject can be found here in the Quarter to Three forums.

Here’s an excerpt from Fitch’s post.

“I didn’t believe [the data] at first. It seemed way too high. Then I saw that Bioshock was selling 5 to 1 on console vs. PC. And Call of Duty 4 was selling 10 to 1. These are hardcore games, shooters, classic PC audience stuff. Given the difference in install base, I can’t believe that there’s that big of a difference in who played these games, but I guess there can be in who actually payed for them.”

Whether that adds up to 80% or not could probably be argued but the fact remains that it’s a pretty gaping disparity and game developers are finding that console gaming seems to be quite a bit more financially fulfilling, as evidenced by Epic Games’ (makers of Gears of War) announcement that they’ll be going console-only from here on out citing that the PC gaming market is “in disarray.”

PC game piracy in US estimated at 75-80% [GamePro.com]