Piracy? Don't talk to Super Meat Boy developer Team Meat about piracy. They don't give a crap about piracy. No, seriously, founders Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes really don't have a problem with it.
The duo voiced their thoughts on the state of the PC industry on a DarkZero podcast, adding that the shame of those who steal games could result in legitimate sales.
"Our game was hugely pirated – we don’t f**king care," they said. "If there are let’s say 200,000 copies of Super Meat Boy that are getting passed around for free, that’s 200,000 people who are playing the game.
"If they like this game there’s a really high probability of their friends coming around and seeing it or posting about it on their blogs. And it’s not cool to say they really like a game they stole, so they’re not going to say that. So it’s going to come around to sales."
There has been some debate on how to tackle piracy in the PC space, but it seems that an increasing number of indie developers are embracing it and trying to convert potential consumers into paying customers rather than implement deterrents.
Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun
The duo voiced their thoughts on the state of the PC industry on a DarkZero podcast, adding that the shame of those who steal games could result in legitimate sales.
"Our game was hugely pirated – we don’t f**king care," they said. "If there are let’s say 200,000 copies of Super Meat Boy that are getting passed around for free, that’s 200,000 people who are playing the game.
"If they like this game there’s a really high probability of their friends coming around and seeing it or posting about it on their blogs. And it’s not cool to say they really like a game they stole, so they’re not going to say that. So it’s going to come around to sales."
There has been some debate on how to tackle piracy in the PC space, but it seems that an increasing number of indie developers are embracing it and trying to convert potential consumers into paying customers rather than implement deterrents.
Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Games:
Super Meat Boy
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Comments
bertybassett 20 Jul 2011 11:54
1/5
Its all about price. If you keep the price low enough (like the apple app stores) then is it worth spending hours to pirate a £3 or £4 games?
For me a major pirate they answer is no.
For me a major pirate they answer is no.
realvictory 20 Jul 2011 12:19
2/5
What I've realised about myself is that over the past few years, even the games I've bought I haven't necessarily played. So I've just stopped buying games, apart from a few occasional ones.
So based on that, I would say that either cheap games, free games, or demos are a key factor in what games and how many games people like me buy. The idea that pirates wouldn't necessarily buy games if they had to pay for them might work the inverse, too, like Team Meat said. If I was given a lot of free games - or even demos - to play, I could then buy the ones I like. Otherwise, rather than buying a game I might not play, I'm more likely to just buy no games, most of the time.
So based on that, I would say that either cheap games, free games, or demos are a key factor in what games and how many games people like me buy. The idea that pirates wouldn't necessarily buy games if they had to pay for them might work the inverse, too, like Team Meat said. If I was given a lot of free games - or even demos - to play, I could then buy the ones I like. Otherwise, rather than buying a game I might not play, I'm more likely to just buy no games, most of the time.
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deleted 20 Jul 2011 15:38
3/5
I have bought Peggle on at least 4 different platforms, Xbox 360+Nights, iPhone, PC and Android (althoguh that was free) i first played peggle at a friends house on a Jtagged XBox 360, i am in no way condoning piracy but it appears the devs might be right on this occasion.
gingineer 21 Jul 2011 08:29
4/5
There are different type of pirates, ones who download things to try whilst at the same time buying stuff they like. Generally their spend on games films and music is high and their actions do not harm sales. But then there is the self righteous Pirate that pirates every last thing they own and is proud of it. that is what is very very wrong.
Mark KC 24 Jul 2011 16:39
5/5
If games are worth buying, people will generally buy - especially for online multiplayer.
I pirated MW2, saw that the online part was pretty much identical to MW1 (well actually it was missing some important features!) and didn't buy it...
Most of the Valve games I've got (20+ of them, probably paid over £60) started with a pirate copy of counterstrike from a friend at college... and I recently persuaded a friend to take up a Steam offer of 24 Valve games for £25...
There's also the DRM issue:
Steam is annoying when it doesn't work, but when it does - I can sign into it on a friend's PC and play my games with him, can sign into it at work and play games with the others during breaks and anywhere else, without needing serial numbers or CDs. I can play games I bought over five years ago, which I'd have otherwise lost the CDs for (had I not bought via steam).
EA's DRM system on the other hand cripples games that you've paid for, unless you buy DLC with them, and has been known to remove games after a few years (meaning even if you've paid for them, you can no longer play them).
Whether or not piracy works in your favour (as a developer) purely depends on whether your products:
1. Are actually any good
2. Are worth the money you're charging
3. Have decent support available (counterstrike still receives patches and updates, despite its age!)
Any developers who're being crippled by piracy, pick one of the following:
1. Stop making crap games
2. Stop overcharging for games
3. Show some respect to the people who have paid for the games
Thank you.
I pirated MW2, saw that the online part was pretty much identical to MW1 (well actually it was missing some important features!) and didn't buy it...
Most of the Valve games I've got (20+ of them, probably paid over £60) started with a pirate copy of counterstrike from a friend at college... and I recently persuaded a friend to take up a Steam offer of 24 Valve games for £25...
There's also the DRM issue:
Steam is annoying when it doesn't work, but when it does - I can sign into it on a friend's PC and play my games with him, can sign into it at work and play games with the others during breaks and anywhere else, without needing serial numbers or CDs. I can play games I bought over five years ago, which I'd have otherwise lost the CDs for (had I not bought via steam).
EA's DRM system on the other hand cripples games that you've paid for, unless you buy DLC with them, and has been known to remove games after a few years (meaning even if you've paid for them, you can no longer play them).
Whether or not piracy works in your favour (as a developer) purely depends on whether your products:
1. Are actually any good
2. Are worth the money you're charging
3. Have decent support available (counterstrike still receives patches and updates, despite its age!)
Any developers who're being crippled by piracy, pick one of the following:
1. Stop making crap games
2. Stop overcharging for games
3. Show some respect to the people who have paid for the games
Thank you.