[nearmiss]

There is always something going around.

Why would Oleg quit? If he couldn't turn this to his advantage now into a even better situation I'd be amazed.
The gaming industry is as big or bigger than the movie industry. Oleg has a niche market and he is the best in it.
What kind of thinking would it take to leave all that, after all the hard work and solid accomplishments.

Oleg could work cooperative agreements with hardware manufacturers. Logitech, CHProducts, TrackIR and others would all be cooperative to have a more favorable situation and get locked in with the application. The hardware guys are the ones making all the money, because you cannot pirate a joystick that cost $300 USD. If you don't like a hardware purchase you can take it back, but there is no way you can use it if you don't own it. Oleg, could make cooperative agreements with manufacturers to accomodate their hardware.

Oleg could require reinitialize registration on every patch,etc. He could charge for every patch. I bought a Sony Vegas Pro 8.0, a very expensive movie editing program. Two months Sony release Vegas 9.0, and six months later Vegas 10.0. Each upgrade was several hundred dollars. Free patches could be strictly fixes and tweaks, with not additional objects or improvements in the application. All additional objects, aircraft, improvements would be in paid for add ons. All addons would be downloads only.

Don't think Oleg can't create alliances with hardware manufacturers and make it stick. Consider the Apple iPHone. AT&T had it exclusive for several years and now Verizon has slipped in, at great expense. Oleg has the iPhone of WW2 air combat flight simulation games. Think about all the console games and how they are hardware dependent. The software and hardware are required exclusive to each other. The hardware is improved and released...then everyone has to buy new games.
I appreciate the hardware independence, but I could sure understand if Oleg or other popular PC game developers made cooperative arrangements with hardware mfgrs. Agreements with hardware manufacturers could also require participating and promoting Oleg's products as well.

Before Oleg, shuts it down it would be well worth the efforts to explore the future differently.

Oleg could work with a console manufacturer, the console would have to have multiple ports and only specific hardware components would interface with it. He might have to work with a Sony or MSFT, if he didn't want to mess with the console. However, he might cut a deal with someone like nVidia to build a console for him... Why would they do that you ask? Because I would imagine if Oleg and other PC gamer developers are feeling the pain from console competition. You can bet someone nVidia, Amd or others VC manufacturers will probably have to become console manufacturers soon. Console computers (that's all they are) is a mature industry. The PC applications like Oleg's will have to move that way, because piracy is taking the heart and soul out of the computer software business.

Don't be surprised when you see large companies like Adobe, MSFT and other with a specific hardware interface. They'll have to do it, and it will be soon, because 1,000s of dollars for a software is too much money, and basically too expensive for most purchasers. As it is the higher prices for software have to compensate for all the piracy of their products, in order to continue to develop newer products.

Hardware dependence could also mean alot more revenues from sale of products especially in countries where they are selling software on DVD in back alleys for $1 each. Locks and hooks could be provided that had specific link protocols built into firmware of the hardware that interfaces with the software link protocols. Piracy would be non-existent with those products.

I see a future for software linked to specific hardware items. I expect to see it with DVD players and many other hardware devices in the not to distant future.
If you insert a movie into a DVD player, the player can have a defined protocol built into firmware that directly contacts the movie distributor for authorization to play or some other weird stuff.

There are already arrangements with Camcorders and such, where you can't do some things that allow copying of copyrighted materials. So, yeah there is definitely a future for products like Oleg's COD. He'll just have to bite the bullet and take on some new priorities for his company.