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[ViktorTheBoar]

Share your feelings, opinions and actions.

We saw our game torrented with a bunch of seeders and it was a somewhat buggy and unfinished pre-release review copy. Is that good or bad for us? I mean, pirates don't get the fully polished version, but they don't know it, so they just go through the worse version of the game that's not too representative of our final product
And somehow, I doubt that someone will bother adding a new version and calling a bunch of seeders to get it. It's not the most famous game ever. No, I don't want to do it, I'd rather work on selling the game

[Schoq]

make a piratebay comment saying "hello developers here glad u like our game please keep in mind this is an unfinished version and if u like the gam and want to support us you can buy the final release here [url] [smileyface]"

standard goodwill response

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

not really relevant nowadays, but this might give you some tips on what to do:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-02-11-anodyne-dev-its-better-to-embrace-piracy

[ViktorTheBoar]

make a piratebay comment saying "hello developers here glad u like our game please keep in mind this is an unfinished version and if u like the gam and want to support us you can buy the final release here [url] [smileyface]"

standard goodwill response

I just went to Pirate Bay and... JUST FIVE SEEDERS?!? WHAT THE HELL, HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE THIS GAME ENOUGH TO SEED IT GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Manuel Magalhães]

tfw people transfer a file but not seed it afterwards 

[FreeFly]

I've always wondered why no one sues those websites (or at least, almost no one). I know that there will always be cracked versions around, but at the moment, illegal software is way too easy to find and download.

[Schoq]

lol

[readyplaygames]

I've always wondered why no one sues those websites (or at least, almost no one). I know that there will always be cracked versions around, but at the moment, illegal software is way too easy to find and download.

I think you answered your own question. It's just not worth the trouble, unfortunately.

[Pfotegeist]

I've always wondered why no one sues those websites (or at least, almost no one). I know that there will always be cracked versions around, but at the moment, illegal software is way too easy to find and download.

Suits are OD.

[JWK5]

Chances are, unless your game is well known the majority of people finding it are probably going to find it through more legitimate means (i.e. through whatever services you might be selling it through, etc.). As for the rest of the people, with them what are you really losing?

Best case scenario, you can hope whoever does download it through torrenting ends up recalling liking the game and decides to find out more about it (at which point they might be led to realize it wasn't the finished product and they may be enticed to instead purchase it). It wouldn't hurt to leave a link on the torrent page letting people know if they have interest in buying the finished product (which is much improved from the torrented one) they can find it at the link.

Worst case scenario, whoever is downloading it is probably not out to buy games in the first place and you aren't exactly losing a customer or revenue.

[michaelplzno]

Every time a game gets pirated I shed a single tear:



More seriously, there were a lot of players of my mobile game in China who weren't appearing as sales so I'm figuring they just pirated the game. I was glad people were playing it but I seriously could have used that revenue.

[Pfotegeist]

I remembered one recent case now, I believe that game agar.io was "pirated" when their server had traffic coming through a third party website, and something like that bleeds the service quality pretty quickly. Consider if the pirate affect players negatively, and if the method they pirate with assumes they own the game (meaning their customers are edit: really nice bunnies).

[Torchkas]

Pirates give you free marketing provided they like the game.

Most people who can buy your game probably will. You don't really lose anything from having your stuff on a torrenting website.

[rectacrab]

Definitely tell them it's a buggy unfinished version of the game!
Then it's clear they've basically been sharing a demo for all the fun they *could* have if they pay you.

Good luck!

[Oskuro]

Every time a game gets pirated I shed a single tear:

Considering that actor was Italian, is that a pirated Native American tear? 

On topic, people who don't want to buy your game won't, even if they can't pirate it (no matter  how hard big publishers try to hide that fact so they can delude their investors into thinking that stopping piracy will increase sales), so they are not your audience and not worth caring for.

Then again, as others have said, making sure to point out the pirated version is an unfinished release is good for both your game and your reputation. A crappy release can taint a game's reputation if that's all people know about it.

Your call on how much effort you want to devote into it.

[ioanasima]

Oh, yeah...

[Schoq]

that is not a proportional response to unauthorized use of software

[ViktorTheBoar]

Especially when every bullet costs more than the whole production budget for your game :D

[ioanasima]

Especially when every bullet costs more than the whole production budget for your game :D

loool!!!!
Dude, can't put a price on sleepless nights!

[ioanasima]

that is not a proportional response to unauthorized use of software

Better?