Team Meat "Doesn't F*cking Care" About Pirates

[fenrizz]

Actually, the fact that libraries have not driven bookshops out of business is PROOF that getting stuff for free does not stop people paying.

Quoted for truth.

Also, DRM is pointless and a waste of money and resources.
If you can play it, then you can copy it.

Even the games that require constant internet access can be copied and distributed freely.
I'm looking at you Ubisoft!

Just stop it, and focus on making good games.
It'll help your sales much more than DRM, anti piracy PSA's and lawsuits ever will.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Well yeah, when you're a small indie team and you've already sold 600,000 copies [http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/06/super-meat-boy-sales-total-600000-units-so-far/], you tend to not care about the few thousand pirated versions that are out there.

 

[GeorgW]

It's a good policy. Avalanche's is better, mind, but it's good nonetheless.
I like team meat.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Finally,final-f*ckingly,a company that thinks about the positive side of piracy.

There is no "positive side" to piracy. It's simply a matter of trying to find the best way to deal with douchebags.

 

[fenrizz]

Finally,final-f*ckingly,a company that thinks about the positive side of piracy.

There is no "positive side" to piracy. It's simply a matter of trying to find the best way to deal with douchebags.

There can be positive sides to piracy.
Exposure and PR an independent developer might not otherwise get.

It is not all black and white.
Besides, the industry is not hurting they way some people would have you believe.

It's bigger than ever, higher revenue each year since 2003.

SOURCE:
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_game_industry

 

[Formica Archonis]

Wow. This hit the main page around the same time give or take 3 hours as this hit Slashdot's main page:

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/07/20/2119232/Suppressed-Report-Shows-Pirates-Are-Good-Customers
(Note: This is about movie piracy and not video game piracy, but still.)

Looks like Team Meat got it right.

 

[Ytmh]

No positive side to piracy?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_253/7532-Gamers-of-the-Third-World

Time for some readin', boy.

 

[lacktheknack]

The duo also apparently believes that shame will motivate at least some of the people who downloaded the game without paying for it. "It's not cool to go round and say I really like this game that I stole, so they're not going to say that," they added. "So it's going to come around to sales."

Sadly, they're wrong here. And then cue the "BUT EVERYONE DOES IT" bleating when I tell someone off for pirating.

 

[Something Amyss]

I knew I wasn't the only oe who was thinking this

OT: Very progressive. Now, if only other devs and publishers could think like you do

Insanity loves company.

I bought SMB completely legally, but now I kind of want to throw money at them more. Not specifically because they don't give a damn about pirates per se, but more because they aren't taking it out on me, and have a positive attitude that at least their game is being played.

I already thought SMB was a well-crafted game with great aesthetics and details, but it's also nice to know that they're not sitting there going "We hate pirates, so we're punishing you...Yes, you, Zachary Amaranth, purchaser of our game."

Okay, maybe that was specific, silly, and paranoid. But mostly silly.

 

[The Random One]

"It's not cool to go round and say I really like this game that I stole, so they're not going to say that"

Instead they'll just say, "I really like this game." Then you ask, "How much is it?" and they send you a bittorrent link.

Still, I think that's the only mindset you can come out it. If you want your DRM to be sane and if you know sane DRM means the legitimate costumer doesn't realize it exists (or, at worst, realizes once, very briefly, and isn't the hardest thing they have to do during the game install) there's not MUCH you can do to curb piracy, so might as well shrug and roll with it.

Also, every time I read a piece of news about Team Meat at some point I'll go, "Holy shit! It's a palindrome!" EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I love these guys. Their reasoning for piracy is the same as Notch's though (I know some other people probably voiced this reasoning first, but Notch is the only person who I remember).

 

[StriderShinryu]

Give them a few games and we'll see what they say.

Not saying that they may not have a point, and one would hope they know what they're talking about for their sake if nothing else, but I'd hate this to end up with them folding at some point because they didn't make enough money on what was a very popular but very pirated title.

 

[Roboto]

Finally,final-f*ckingly,a company that thinks about the positive side of piracy.

There is no "positive side" to piracy. It's simply a matter of trying to find the best way to deal with douchebags.

Thank you for what I was thinking.

 

[jpoon]

Awesome job Team Meat, I have much respect for these guys. Piracy is not such a big problem as it's made out to be by the corporate goons. Piracy will translate to sales, that's about all they need to know about it.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

And here is when the article went south

It's an unusual, although not unique, attitude toward the problem of piracy, probably borne in large part out of sheer helplessness.

It isn't about helplessness, it is about realism.

X% of people will pirate everything so you can't get money from them
Y% of people will buy things they downloaded if they liked it
Z% of people would have never heard of the product but now buy it because of a glowing recommendation from a "pirate"

X will never be your customers, but Y and Z are you wouldn't normally get unless X existed.

The pro intellectual monopoly people simply refuse to admit the cost of distributing data is close to zero. It is the cost of making the data is what is expensive. But the old model of "investing" in the creation and then making the money back from monopoly distribution rights is dying in the internet age.

But the publishers are clinging to the old model because they know that they are unnecessary in the new world.

 

[kayisking]

Well yeah, when you're a small indie team and you've already sold 600,000 copies [http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/06/super-meat-boy-sales-total-600000-units-so-far/], you tend to not care about the few thousand pirated versions that are out there.

Uhm.... SMB has a 90 percent piracy rate, so that's six million pirated copy's, not a few thousand.

 

[gCrusher]

(Damn, that would sound far more awesome with the right backing music.)

Timo Maas - To Get Down

At least that's what I heard when you were saying that stuff.

 

[veloper]

It's not about how many people pirate the game, but about how many people are willing to support you.

The two are unrelated.
Smart publishers have figured by now that they should try to make fans.

 

[atrus20]

OMG! Finnally some game producers having some sense about how to deal with piracy!! ^_^