A Birthday Boost

An effective way to tackle piracy?

Published 20/10/2009 at 17:47.
By djhsecondnature.

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worldofgoo

Today seems to have brewed an interesting discussion on piracy. After Dylan Cuthbert and the Q-Games team mentioning how piracy is affecting their decision to put future PixelJunk titles on the PSP, which then sparked our lunchtime discussion on piracy, it seems that a certain developer has had a rather successful attempt at curbing it. Now I know that this is neither PS3 or 360 news, but the relevance of the news slotted in rather nicely with the rest of the days news.

World of Goo, by small team 2D Boy, had a shocking piracy rate of around 90% at launch, which most certainly had a financial impact on such a small developer. However, they have since experimented a little. For the games first birthday, they allowed gamers to purchase the game and pay as much or as little as they wanted, all the way down to a solitary cent. With it, they managed to sell approximately 57,000 more copies of the game. Now granted, a large proportion (around 16,000) or people decide to pay the minimum amount for the game, but not everyone.

As you can see from this graph, it’s an interesting variety of prices paid and rather than go into it in great detail (as I’m sure you can all tell from looking at the graph) some quick maths works out that this little experiment made 2D Boy over $100,000 (minus transaction costs). This seems like a win-win, as the developer has a good injection of cash that they may otherwise have never got, and a large number of gamers will get to experience their title and perhaps be convinced to buy their next one at full price.

Do you see this as a possible model for developers to investigate more?

Source: RockPaperShotgun

Comments

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rabi_dave | 20/10/2009 17:54
Member
173 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008

This seems like a really good way of countering piracy, but as my mate and I were discussing the other day, piracy will never die. If a code is used to write the game a code can be used to crack a game. This may just make people think twice about piracy and although, as is shown above, the majority would pay the minimum amout but you will get the odd person that will pay full price and more so there’s still the possibility of making a profit.
- Raen | 20/10/2009 18:00
  Team TSA: Writer
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  Oh there are one or two ways that would make it pretty much perfect, but they’re so inconvenient that it’d never come to much.
- JustHonour | 20/10/2009 18:19
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  331 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
  
  TBH… I’m not sure if this sales option will encourage people away from pirating, and therefor paying nothing, to actually paying “something” no matter how small. But really that’s besides the point. The real question is whether or not the calculated 100K is worth it from the dev’s point of view. Only that will decide if this sales model works. That said, I would love to see more of if.
proog | 20/10/2009 18:09
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247 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

I took advantage of this offer and paid a dollar for it. Yes, I know, I’m a bastard, and I had actually played it before, but at least it gave them something, and even though it was only a dollar, it was a dollar more than what they would have gotten without the offer. I have to admire the few people who paid more than the standard price, that is amazing.
TheDeathAvenger | 20/10/2009 18:37
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1830 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

I like that and would love to see pretty much all other developers at least giving it a go. It would be great, you could buy the game for one pence/cent/etc, try it out and then re-buy it paying whatever price you think the game deserves.
- kevatron400 | 21/10/2009 09:07
  Don't call him Kevatron400.
  2125 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
  
  I disagree with the whole dual-buying system there, you can try it out using a demo for free!
  - Raen | 21/10/2009 09:13
    Team TSA: Writer
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    You don’t get the whole game and (in the case of a lot of games) the demo isn’t really reflective of the final build of the game.
  - TheDeathAvenger | 21/10/2009 21:23
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    I just think that a system where you could buy a game for very little, play it (without the restrictions and differences that a demo has/can have), and then pay whatever you believe the game is worth would have advantages for both the gamer and the developer.
    
    I know that i have bought games only to find that it is just not for me, and is therefore a waste of my money. It’s this kind of thing that makes people more careful about the games they buy in the future. If you could buy a game for one pence (or a similar small amount), it would make you much more likely to purchase the game and try it out. If you enjoy it then you can just re-purchase it paying whatever amount you think is suitable (though i know there will be many people that will not re-purchase it, no matter how much they think it is really worth). This way a mass of people that would have never played the game, will play it and possibly buy it and even if many don’t end up re-buying it many of them probably wouldn’t have done so in the first place, so it’s not really a loss.
ShovellyJoe | 20/10/2009 19:34
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1439 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008

I can’t help but feel if a full retail game attempted this then the company would make a huge loss. Imagine FIFA 10 going for this; instead of the retail price of around £40, all those hundreds of thousands of people who bought it in the first place probably would have paid about a quid, maybe less.
- shields_t | 20/10/2009 22:04
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  Championship manager did on the PC, I got it for a penny plus a £2.50 admin charge on pre release. Trouble is, i’t just as crap as it has been since splitting from the superior Football manager.
  Not sure about the implications on their sales or profits though.
gazzagb | 20/10/2009 19:46
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4274 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009

I think this could work well with PSN Games or PSOne Classics, hopefully we’ll see more developers doing this in Europe.
Roynaldo | 20/10/2009 20:20
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4155 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008

A touch off topic but:

I dont have much of a problem with SOME piracy. Of course it is illegal and thats why I dont do it but it pains me to see MTV cribs and see some nob who has released one track and has millions of pounds worth of house and cars. Plus their music is a bag of turd and just feel there is no justice in the world.

When it comes to games though I feel the trade is in enough hardship and these type of antics is unacceptable and can only make things worse for us in the long run….possibly hiking the prices of games to make up for the loss in the future psp market.
- JustHonour | 20/10/2009 21:05
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  331 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
  
  That’s an odd justification don’t you think. You see a “nob” who has released a record and made a ton of money and can ascribe that to piracy [of music] being ok… Because you didn’t like the “bag of turd” to begin with.
  
  I’m playing devils advocate a bit here simply because the music industry is – in fact ;-) – full of turds plying crap that know nothing tweenagers, whose idea of taste is a McD’s or KFC, that for some unknown reason keep that shit hitting the top of the charts (who makes that crap up anyway?). Even so, the turd did do/look/appear/sound like something that fools want to pay for.
  
  Piracy is bad. Full stop. But I don’t think it will kill one of the (if not) fastest growing entertainment industries. I – oddly enough – prefer an original to a copy and am will to pay a premium for it. But I do base my purchases on research from sites such as TSA (Supercar Challenge I’ll forgive TSA for even though no one will buy it off me… arg).
  
  As a developer I’ve even started donating to the various freely available plug-ins that are available for download for free (tinymce / shadowbox / etc). Perhaps the older I get the more willing I am to give back…?
  - Mr_writer | 20/10/2009 21:18
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    106 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
    
    I think thats a disgracful why to look at it. What about all those people in music who work hard for years to have people like you just say ‘you know what I like that song but I’m not paying for it’. People have to earn a living and if that means making music you don’t like doesnt mean they don’t deserve the money they make, what might be the hot new band of 2009 could be nobodies by 2010.
    
    Piracy is horrilbe and anyone who does it should be shot for being lazy and a cheapskate. I’m sorry but I have a few friends in the games making industry and they work there god damm socks off to make the men with the money bags happy so they can feed familys. If it was up to the people who make the game they would make games dirty cheap so they could go home with a good pay packet and you a cheap but great game.
    
    But thats not the way it works, and it makes me sick when I see anyone try to justfy piracy of any kind.
  - Roynaldo | 20/10/2009 21:18
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    4155 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
    
    No offence, as im sure you had a good point and a solid argument in there somewhere but to me it just read in my mind “Blah, blah, blah”.
    
    Maybe my post wasnt any different either, or maybe you misunderstood what I was saying….anyways,
    
    Yes piracy is bad but some people dont deserve silly amounts of money for shit products and they deserve to be victims of it.
    Does that clear things up a bit?
  - Raen | 20/10/2009 21:27
    Team TSA: Writer
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    The difference is just because you feel that some form of music sucks doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t make a bucket load of money out of it. If anything they’re being smart business people and appealing to the market which will make them the most money.
- Roynaldo | 20/10/2009 21:40
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  4155 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
  
  @Raen- The difference between what?
  
  What the hell is wrong with me today… these posts make no sense to me at all. It looks like jibberish.
  
  Il explain in simple terms: I feel agrieved that a person makes millions of $s on a single track (often their only track, which imo suks) and we are here struggling to even pay for a single download of their poo. They dont deserve their fortune from such mild “work” and piracy of it may be Karma biting them in the arse.
  
  Like I said, it is only “SOME” piracy I dont have much of a problem with. When it comes to the gaming market it is not on because these guys work hard for their products and struggle for cash day in day out. Unlike these music “artists” who spend just a few hours and make millions from it.
  
  Work for your ££££ is basically what im saying.
  - xdarkmagician | 20/10/2009 21:54
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    755 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
    
    I agree with you Roynaldo an amount of piracy is fine. How can someone call me a thief for watching a show on a pirate site when that same show aired for free on television. Then the entertainment industry has the balls to get some rapper to tell me copying music is a crime when that same rapper copies other peoples songs in their own work, but because they changed a note or only used 4 seconds they’re an artists not a thief.
  - colossalblue | 20/10/2009 22:04
    Team TSA: Editor
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    @darkmagician: the show didn’t air for free, it was paid for via advertising or, in the case of BBC programmes, via the license fee.
    Also, that rapper either pays the copyright holder for the use of their work or gets clearance via his record comapny (which may even be the copyright holder).
    Saying some amount of Piracy is fine is (in legal terms) the same as saying some amount of bank robbery is fine. Try telling it to the judge :)
  - xdarkmagician | 20/10/2009 23:12
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    @colossalblue, you’re legally correct, but thats because laws are written as black and white with no room for personal interpretations, a judge may not care, but a jury might :)
CaptainMurdo | 20/10/2009 21:13
Team TSA: Writer
2229 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008

I almost bought it last week but don’t play games often enough on my laptop to make it worthwhile.
xdarkmagician | 20/10/2009 22:19
Member
755 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009

It’s funny, as a part of growing up into fine upstanding human beings we’re tought to share. If I have a giant cake the nicest thing I can do is to share it with people that love cake, and for that act of kindness I’m called a saint.
If I share cake I’m a saint, but if I share music, videos or games I’m a crook.
- cc_star | 20/10/2009 22:39
  Team TSA: Writer
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  What?
  
  Of course you’re a crook if you do that.
  - xdarkmagician | 20/10/2009 23:35
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    755 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
    
    Say I was done playing uncharted 2 and I said here you take it because I’m done with it. Is that piracy, or am I just being nice. I dont advocate huge amounts of piracy to were someone is copying solely for distribution, but if you were never going to buy uncharted 2 giving you a free copy doesnt affect their bottom line. Piracy can be defined down to not letting someone read a newspaper when your done with it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s sad when companies go bankrupt because they cant sell their products because others are giving them away, but it’s impossible to know how many people that pirated a copy would have bought a real copy if a pirate version wasn’t available.
  - cc_star | 20/10/2009 23:44
    Team TSA: Writer
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    You’re not authorised to lend it no, but lets be honest here – the most danger is done by uploaders who distribute it to hundreds/thousands/millions of people which obviously goes on with music, movies and some gaming systems like the PC, NDS & PSP and to a lesser extent with the Ps2, Wii & 360 not by lending/giving your copy to a mate
    
    It would be a different kettle of fish if you copied it to give him.
    
    There are no licences involved in lending/giving someone a copy of a newspaper
TheDeathAvenger | 20/10/2009 22:33
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For anyone that’s not read the RockPaperShotgun article, the World of Goo offer is still available and will be until the 25th of this month. Just head on over to the 2D Boy website.
cc_star | 20/10/2009 22:34
Team TSA: Writer
11320 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

I am in the anti-piracy camp, there is no argument for it at all.

I never find the line blurred except when it comes to things I’ve purchased like breaking the DRM off a piece of music to move it between devices. I also pay a fortune every month for Sky’s top package and don’t feel guilty about watching the occasional piece of Saturday afternoon footie action via the Internet, if I was offered the option of subscribing to it, I probably would but because of licensing right I never will be.

I do not download or upload any form of media whether it be music, movies or games and anybody who does I believe is wrong