Game Developer Asks To Hear From Pirates

cliffski writes "Indie game developer Cliff Harris has long waged war against games piracy, but has issued a call to pirates to tell him why he is wrong. Assuming that developers are missing out on potential sales from disgruntled pirates, Cliff wants to hear specifically from people who have pirated his games. Not to criticize or lecture them, but to answer a simple question. Why? The reasons people give for copyright infringement/piracy are many and varied, but much of the debate has centred around music and movies, with big 'Triple-A' games an occasional consideration. With specific application to the world of small budget 'indie' games like those Cliff makes, he wants to know the thought processes behind people pirating the games. What puts people off buying? Is it quality, cost, DRM, ease of access? Is there anything that can be done to convert those people to buyers? While many pirates often make good general points about the reasons for the widespread pirating of PC games, it's unusual to get a chance to address specific developers with specific reasons. If you knew 100% that the developer would read your email explaining why you pirated their game, what would you say?"

Comments

Credit card, price, DRM and convenience

[LKM]

I don't pirate games, but from back when I was a kid and from what my friends do, I think some of the reasons are:

1. Lack of credit card. You need a credit card to pay for games, and lots of people (especially kids, and especially outside the US) have no credit card
2. Price. Many games are overpriced (PS3 titles, wtf?)
3. Paying sucks because you get a worse product than by pirating. You can either pay and get DRM, or not pay and get a game that actually works
4. Convenience. iTunes competes with illegal downloads by being more convenient. We need an iTunes for gaming

Re:Lack of demos.

[Snaller]

Fuck what you think it's about, people have started a general discussion which is what slashdot is about, its not just the support site for that programmer.

Re:Abundance

[Anonymous Coward]

You're confusing legal with moral. Capitalism is morally wrong. So how can it be good to conform to its rules? Between the Pirate Bay and Berlusconi, I know who the good ones are.

Re:Abundance

[Jason Levine]

-Golden Rule? Whose being naive now? Are you insinuating that the free flow of information is harmful or wrong?

You're completely right. Information needs to be free. And that means all types of Information. No exceptions. So I eagerly await your reply posting your real name, real address, Social Security number, date of birth, bank account numbers and PIN codes, etc. Shouldn't that information be allowed to be free too? So come on "Anonymous Coward," let that information be free!