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Double Fine Adventure Will Be Available DRM Free For IOS, Android
New submitter Garth Smith writes "Tim Schafer has a video update for his crowdsourced project, Double Fine Adventure. Because of the nearly $2 million in funding, the budget is now large enough for language translations, voice acting, music, and more platforms. The XBox and PS3 are absent. I wonder what would the chances of a DRM-free release have been if funding had come from a traditional publisher?"
Mac, Linux, and PC. With both Steam and DRM-free versions to be available for all-purpose platforms.
Be optimistic. One of the "promises of the web" is coming true. We actually have democratization of a process that used to be limited by the wealthy. Just don't be irrational, and don't expect this to end the existing model which works just fine for what it is (able to produce highly marketed, general audience games).
Steam games don't necessarily have DRM -- not even the kind that Steam itself provides. See for example DOSBox games on it, Witcher 2, VVVVVV, and a few others that allow you to copy the game files and play without Steam, without the need to crack them.
If you've downloaded one of the DRM free games (like VVVVVV), you can run it directly from your Steamapps directory even if Steam does go down.
I read the internet for the articles.
If you bothered to check out the Kickstarter page, the "returns" start at getting a copy of the game. They even had a level of $10,000 donation which would get you lunch with Tim Schaffer. If you went to Double Fine's site, they had even higher levels than that. $15,000 would get you dinner with the dev team and Tim Schaffer. $20,000 would get you dinner and bowling.
The whole point of this sort of model is that nobody really needs to care about piracy. I blogged about it four years ago (and basically describe Kickstarter in that post) as a way for creative industry to adapt to a digital world. If everyone's paid (by backers) before production begins, then there's no complaining about lost income due to "piracy". I wonder if I can get a job as a futurist?
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
As it turns out, there's a current push to change this situation. It sounds like the illegal bit is soliciting investments in return for equity "from unaccredited investorsâ"defined as investors with less than $1 million in assetsâ"who are not friends or family."
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120111/SMALLBIZ/120119980#
It sounds like a great idea to me.