Machinarium Developer Offers Pirates Amnesty

[Jared]

Intresting way to go around it...but, Pirates wotn care. They just want it for free...screw the publisher. Which, is a real shame

 

[Booze Zombie]

That is amazing.
Seriously, I don't know if I would ever do that, myself. I'd probably end up jaded and angry, really.

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

I bought it, and its well worth its rather low price. This is also horrible for the industry as a whole for many reasons, not least of which is that bigger companies can now use examples like this to prove DRM is necessary on their games.

 

[solidstatemind]

I think it's a great idea. The game is wonderful, but clearly suffering from the common ailments of an indie title: lack of marketing support, lack of tech support, etc. etc.

Frankly, I hate piracy for reasons different than most- simply put: piracy is ultimately one of the purest forms of selfishness and self-gratification out there. Yes, you can attempt to rationalize it:
"oh, it's like a demo... I'll buy it if I like it" (really? You're really going to shell out for a game that you've already beaten)

"Oh, it has DRM on it; I refuse to support DRM." (And yet you refuse to actually suffer any consequences for your decision? Don't like the DRM? Fine. Don't buy the game. Pirating it is only going to provide more incentive for Publishers to come up with 'better' DRM.)

"Oh, games are too expensive..." (So I guess if you can't afford it, you shouldn't get it. You know what happens when you go into a store and just take that 'overpriced' jacket? You go to jail)

"Oh, my version doesn't work..." (So use tech support like every other person in the world, rather than- in essence- stealing another copy off of the store shelves.)

I could go on, but the bottom line is that it's wrong, and I have yet to see a legitimate reason for piracy.
/rant

I hope they do well enough to make another game. These guys have talent. I already bought the game, but I may just buy a copy or two for some friends.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

While I apreciate the sentiment (it's nice to see a PC game company accept the inevitable rather than rage against the people who actually bought the title) I fail to see how this is an amnesty in any way shape or form. Were pirates somehow prevented from buying the game before the amnesty?

No, but I think the company is being smart and trying to cut there losses.

So it's really just an attempt to spin a positive out of a negative. The headline could just have easily been "Machinarium price slashed due to crappy sales."

Pretty much...

 

[coldfrog]

I'm buying it a second time just to counteract some of this. I really enjoyed this game and I'd love to see them keep going with game development. I've been a fan ever since Samorost and I can't wait to see more.

Edit: Oh, and that image is my new background. SWEET!

 

[dohteM]

I loved that game, so charming and soothing.

 

[MrPop]

What you have to remember is that a good number of those 'illegal' downloads will have been by people who bought the game legally then found they couldn't play the bloody thing. Still, good of Amanita to roll with it like this.

If it has no DRM, as the article says, then will that actually be the case with this game? You might be able to make that case with games that have some pretty hardcore DRM, to the extent that it detracts from the game. But the article said that this game had no anti-piracy measures. If that's true, then would the difference between the legit and the pirated versions really make it easier to play? I mean, I'll admit, I'm not a pirate myself so maybe there's some other benefits to piracy that I don't know of, I don't have any desire whatsoever to get into an argument about it, but without the DRM you can't really make an argument like that in regards to this game.

It wasn't DRM I was talking about, but a weird screw-up with the PC/Mac versions that meant people's discs only worked on platforms they didn't have. I'm not too sure of the details, but it pissed my girlfriend off royally at the time.

I never knew you could get Machinarium on CD. Unless you were just saying it as an off-topic general point towards all computer games.

Also as my Avatar shows I love this game. Brilliant animation and atmosphere. And you grow to love the lead character so much despite the lack of dialogue from anyone. Some bits are quite funny too.

Hope the studio gets some well earned cash from this.

 

[Stormz]

People who pirate indie titles are scumbags and don't deserve anything. Stealing from a small company that actually wants to make a decent game is disgusting.

I'd buy this game in a heartbeat if I had a way to purchase things online.

 

[Motiv_]

Hate to break it to them, but a good deal of the pirates just don't give a fuck. It's the sad reality of life. Even if they lower the price, people will still look at it and say "Well, I could either pay money for it, or I could get it for free. Gee, what a hard decision".

These are the pirates that aren't going to be moved by pleas, sales, fancy shmancy DRM [In fact many crackers believe it a challenge], or anything of that matter. It's just part of what you have to live with on the PC market. Sad that they decide to pirate an indie game, and in such numbers, but to be honest there isn't much one can do about it. So while I wish Amanita the best, and hope that they can recoup their investment, I don't hold that much optimism.

 

[ucciolord1]

This studio sounds like it hires the nicest people ever. I actually kind of want to buy Machinarium now.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Well, this pretty much cuts right to the heart of most of those pro-piracy statements.

I do it because the game has horrible DRM! Oh, the game has no DRM...

I do it because it's a huge company that doesn't need my money! Oh, it's indie developed...

I do it because I'm trying before I buy, and I'll buy it later if I like it! Great, now's your chance to put up or shut up and for an even lower price than it had initially.

I'm interested in seeing how the sale numbers stack up to the piracy numbers.

 

[Cherry Cola]

So, up to 95% of the game was pirated? Even though it was obvious that they were indie developers? Whatever happened to the, "noble cause against huge corporation," bullshit I heard about earlier?

I believe that the noble cause bullshit you heard about was bullshit.

I better hammer down my lawn. Never know what those pirates could come after!

 

[mooncalf]

I didn't play it at all before, one way or the other. Unless it's a huge release I've waited a long time for, $20 is still a sum I have to think hard about, just my financial position I guess. $5 though, that impulses me. Bought and downloading!

 

[DeadlyYellow]

So, up to 95% of the game was pirated? Even though it was obvious that they were indie developers? Whatever happened to the, "noble cause against huge corporation," bullshit I heard about earlier?

It's all just bullshit. The numbers are likely exaggerated for drama, but that doesn't change the fact that even the Humble Indie Bundle was pirated out the arse.

People don't care, they just want free things.

 

[rabidmidget]

Now that its price is in my impulse buy range, I might just get it, I'm a big fan of adventure games anyway.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Yayyyy! I'm one of the 5-15%! Whooo! Yay for legitimate purchasing power!

It was a really good game though, startling in it's complexity at times.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Yayyyy! I'm one of the 5-15%! Whooo! Yay for legitimate purchasing power!

It was a really good game though, startling in it's complexity at times.

I'm glad I bought TWO copies of the game at full price, one online from the official site, and one collector's edition on discs for my dad. Initially, I thought, "oh, silly me, now here's this deal, I could have saved so much money..." but, you know what? I'm happy I paid $50 AUS for the two copies.

I may have to buy another for a friend, now I can share the awesomeness even further