Amazing example of how piracy can lead to bankrupcy

[The Pizza Thief]

This is a really interesting article I found while reading r/gaming original submission by user: Tyrantt_47

 

 

"When we released our very first game, Game Dev Tycoon (for Mac, Windows and Linux) yesterday, we did something unusual and as far as I know unique. We released a cracked version of the game ourselves, minutes after opening our Store.

I uploaded the torrent to the number one torrent sharing site, gave it a description imitating the scene and asked a few friends to help seed it."

 

Original article: http://www.greenheartgames.com/2013/04/29/what-happens-when-pirates-play-a-game-development-simulator-and-then-go-bankrupt-because-of-piracy/

 

 

"Soon my upload speed was maxed out (and as of the time of writing still is) and my friends and I had connections from all over the world and for all three platforms!"

 

 

 

 

 

[Levent]

I dont remember laughing this hard for a long time.

[Oshino Shinobu]

You're over 2 years late on this one...

 

Also, this does not prove that piracy is affecting sales. Regardless of whether it is or not, it still does not prove it. All it shows is that a lot of people are pirating this game, there's no proof to show that the people would buy it if they couldn't pirate it. 

[The Pizza Thief]

I dont remember laughing this hard for a long time.

Do you think it is true?

[pcexplosion]

I remember this from when the WAN was just the livestream.The article is quite old.

[The Pizza Thief]

You're over 2 years late on this one...

 

Also, this does not prove that piracy is affecting sales. Regardless of whether it is or not, it still does not prove it. All it shows is that a lot of people are pirating this game, there's no proof to show that the people would buy it if they couldn't pirate it. 

 

I know, that post was submitted today to Reddit. I'm not saying it is a conclusive 100% true experiment, but it is an interesting article, food for thought.

[The Pizza Thief]

I remember this from when the WAN was just the livestream.The article is quite old.

I didn't know it had already been discussed, I know it is a 2013 publication but I just read it today.

[Ertman]

I dont think the publisher for World of Goo did well either.

You're over 2 years late on this one...

Also, this does not prove that piracy is affecting sales. Regardless of whether it is or not, it still does not prove it. All it shows is that a lot of people are pirating this game, there's no proof to show that the people would buy it if they couldn't pirate it.

You are right, there is no proof of pirate download equalling lost sales, but what we can surmise is that a pirated download will likely lead to them not buying the game. I agree pirating doesn't neccessarily lead large percentages of lost sales, it still doesn't make it right, and maybe it can make enough of a difference to something with smaller sales.

[leelaa14]

I dont think the publisher for World of Goo did well either.

You are right, there is no proof of pirate download equalling lost sales, but what we can surmise is that a pirated download will likely lead to them not buying the game. I agree pirating doesn't neccessarily lead large percentages of lost sales, it still doesn't make it right, and maybe it can make enough of a difference to something with smaller sales.

"but what we can surmise is that a pirated download will likely lead to them not buying the game"

Sorry but I pirate to see how well it runs, if it runs well I buy it, if it doesn't then I uninstall and don't buy.

Just the other day I pirated metro last light redux to try it out, the game is now in my steam library.

No one will ever know how much pirating effects sales.

Edit, upon thinking about what I have done, it's actually quite funny.

Me pirating the game actually gained the devs a sale.

If I hadn't of pirated to try it I would never have bought it, lol.

[Jerakl]

You're over 2 years late on this one...

 

Also, this does not prove that piracy is affecting sales. Regardless of whether it is or not, it still does not prove it. All it shows is that a lot of people are pirating this game, there's no proof to show that the people would buy it if they couldn't pirate it.

It's not often I pirate a game. Usual I do it's of one I am uncertain of. Like watch_dogs. *I've never played watch_dogs*

If I pirated a game and reaaaaally enjoyed it, chances are I would go buy it to support the dev so they can continue making great games (atleast I would hope)

[The Pizza Thief]

-snip-

Why would you pirate a game to see how it runs? I think that will only show you how well they craked it. I downloaded South Park stick of truth from piratebay to see how well it ran, it was right after finishing this pc build(my first pc). The game was a mess, I kept getting stutters, it froze all the time, until about 3 days playing it it completely crashed and I couldn't get it to work anymore. I knew that wasn't going to determine how well the game played in my computer, that was just how well a person "hacked" the game, I decided to buy a key from G2A, after downloading it from steam the game runs flawlessly, no problems whatsoever. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

[Ryukrieger]

There are quite a few scenarios, in my opinions.

- Really cheap pirates: They pirate games anyway, regardless of them having money or not, and will even play their favourite games all the way, never buying a game. This kind of pirates MAY lead to lose sales, but... gotta ask... would they buy the game if there wasn't any piracy opportunity?

- Poor pirates: Maybe they don't have money at that moment and "Damn, I really want to play that game", these guys usually start buying games when they start getting money in their pockets. I think this is where most "pirates" belong to, usually younger people without enough money, who would really get into games and buy heaps of them in the future.

- Can-I-Run-It people: A lot of people do this, most "DRM-disabled" games would run similar to the full release, but some can be stupidly bad as someone already said.

- Then there's the people who just want to see how the game really is, download number is one thing, but how long are these "pirates" playing the game? 5 minutes then quit? 10 minute? 1-2 hours and never returned? Finished then buy it at a later date when there's a sale?

 

All in all, I believe there are just too many variables to determine the line.... then there's Steam Refund! I know I'm just talking about what everyone's talking about again and again here, but with Steam Refund, those 2-hour pirates may be really reduced.... so some devs can start blaming Steam about it, but I do think Steam Refund is the best way to "combat piracy" in ages, although it's not exactly designed for that.

[leelaa14]

Why would you pirate a game to see how it runs? I think that will only show you how well they craked it. I downloaded South Park stick of truth from piratebay to see how well it ran, it was right after finishing this pc build(my first pc). The game was a mess, I kept getting stutters, it froze all the time, until about 3 days playing it it completely crashed and I couldn't get it to work anymore. I knew that wasn't going to determine how well the game played in my computer, that was just how well a person "hacked" the game, I decided to buy a key from G2A, after downloading it from steam the game runs flawlessly, no problems whatsoever. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

There are only a particular group that I will pirate the games from, they are well known and there games run exactly the sames as the retail counterparts.

Metro last light runs exactly the same as the cracked version, as does dead rising 3, dmc, and killing floor 2. (I ended up buying all these games)

What you said I have never heard of.

Maybe you downloaded an older version of the game without any performances patches, not to sure but I have never had this problem.

[IAMSWIFT1]

I Remember I Torrented The Game,I Felt Really Bad So I Ended Up Buying It That Day

[StormEye]

Ubisoft bitched about rampant piracy, which is causing them to have not much profit in PC market.

 

Turns out their quarter of sales is PC market.

[Nexxus]

Why would you pirate a game to see how it runs? I think that will only show you how well they craked it. I downloaded South Park stick of truth from piratebay to see how well it ran, it was right after finishing this pc build(my first pc). The game was a mess, I kept getting stutters, it froze all the time, until about 3 days playing it it completely crashed and I couldn't get it to work anymore. I knew that wasn't going to determine how well the game played in my computer, that was just how well a person "hacked" the game, I decided to buy a key from G2A, after downloading it from steam the game runs flawlessly, no problems whatsoever. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

Ya I cant think of an example ive seen of a cracked game running abnormally.

Watch Dogs performance was ass even moreso but it was a prerelease the released game I got higher FPS

 

DNF same deal with it being a prerelease and stuttering.

 

But other then tht they have run in a manner that didn't make me question the performance.

[Ertman]

"but what we can surmise is that a pirated download will likely lead to them not buying the game"

Sorry but I pirate to see how well it runs, if it runs well I buy it, if it doesn't then I uninstall and don't buy.

Just the other day I pirated metro last light redux to try it out, the game is now in my steam library.

No one will ever know how much pirating effects sales.

Edit, upon thinking about what I have done, it's actually quite funny.

Me pirating the game actually gained the devs a sale.

If I hadn't of pirated to try it I would never have bought it, lol.

You are only fooling yourself if you think this is the norm.

 

Also, if the ability to pirate didn't exist, you would not buy anything ever?

[leelaa14]

You are only fooling yourself if you think this is the norm.

 

Also, if the ability to pirate didn't exist, you would not buy anything ever?

It's normal that a lot of people pirate games and test them first due to the lazy ass ports that go around.

And if pirating didn't exist then I would have to buy games with the chance of being fucked over by some lazy devs.

Pirating does exist and I use it to my advantage by testing a game to see how it run on my rig, if it runs well then the developer gets my money and if does not then I uninstall and don't buy the game.

You got a problem with that? Would you rather I took the chance and possibly get fucked over?

Edit, your question doesn't really matter to me regarding weather or not I think it's normal or not as frankly I don't care if it is or isn't

I'm making sure I am not getting ripped off, don't care who does/ doesn't do it.

[Ertman]

It's normal that a lot of people pirate games and test them first due to the lazy ass ports that go around.

And if pirating didn't exist then I would have to buy games with the chance of being fucked over by some lazy devs.

Pirating does exist and I use it to my advantage by testing a game to see how it run on my rig, if it runs well then the developer gets my money and if does not then I uninstall and don't buy the game.

You got a problem with that? Would you rather I took the chance and possibly get fucked over?

Edit, your question doesn't really matter to me regarding weather or not I think it's normal or not as frankly I don't care if it is or isn't

I'm making sure I am not getting ripped off, don't care who does/ doesn't do it.

It's a rhetorical question.... Wait, it wasn't even a question. :rollseyes:

I get how YOU use piracy to test games out, cause there is no demos etc.... But don't think that what you do is the norm for all pirates.

Most people who pirate infrequently buy the game/movie/music later. And many that do purchase the game/movie/music later, justify their pirating of newly released games by buying the game/movie/music when it been heavily discounted. More still will play games part way through and not purchase it later despite putting many hours into playing.. So before you get yourself all worked up, this doesn't apply to all people who pirate games/movies/music, some, possibly like yourself use it for demoing before purchasing.

Someone pirating doesn't gain any sales for the developer, unless the person actually goes through and purchases the content. Pirating does cost sales, how much is improbable to determine based on both intent and difficulty in quantification.