World of Goo Dev Bashes DRM

[Keane Ng]

World of Goo Dev Bashes DRM

Ron Carmel of 2D Boy, the developers of last year's indie puzzler World of Goo, thinks DRM isn't just a bad idea for small-time independent developers, but for everyone else as well. His solution? Don't bother with it at all.

Ron Carmel and 2D Boy know something about piracy. Their award-winning and critically lauded puzzle game, World of Goo, made headlines last year not just for being an outstanding game, but for having an outstanding piracy rate [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87450-World-of-Goo-Experiences-90-Percent-Piracy-Rate] of 90 percent. So you'd think Carmel would be all about putting up rows of fences to keep the pirates at bay, but DRM, he believes, isn't the right way to do it.

As Carmel sees it, with DRM, "anything that is of interest gets cracked, and the cracked version ends up having a better user experience than the legit version because you don't have to input in some 32-character serial number."

Though he wasn't ready with a solution to the piracy problem, Carmel sounds like he has a very acute sense of how unavoidable it is. "[A game is] going to get cracked even with DRM, it's going to be available very quickly, so we don't see the point in having DRM," he said. "Piracy rates have been released before, and there's no difference between World of Goo and other games."

Considering piracy's inevitable, there's no point to DRM other than to fill the wallets of the DRM provider, Carmel argued. "Don't bother with DRM - it's a waste of time," he said. "You just end up giving the DRM provider money."

Indeed, Carmel seems to be all about keeping money in developers' pockets and not in anyone else's. He urged indie developers to embrace publishing through digital distribution, and avoid wasting money trying to get games published and distributed through retail.

"Retail distribution - which is what publishers are good at - doesn't generate many sales for indie games," Carmel said. "Go with digital distribution - you won't need a publisher for this. Self-fund your game - and when you get to retail, go for per-country flat-fee deals."

[Via GameSpot [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6206551.html]]


Permalink

 

[Sewblon]

Mr.Carmel is absolutely right. DRM didn't stop Spore from being the most pirated game ever.

 

[Cousin_IT]

hes right about DRM not stopping piracy. DRM providers are just another industry-interest group who have no interest in solving the problem they are targeting because doing so would mean they no longer have a job. That said, DRM is currently the easiest solution for a publisher to employ, & the simplest solution is always the one people go for when money's involved.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Didn't Carmel later claim that most of their revenue from World of Goo came from the Virtual Console and Steam? It may not be DRM, but using a console or Valve's service is just a variation on the concept.

Just saying.

 

[karmapolizei]

Yep. And I'm getting more and more sure that piracy is not at all what DRM is about. Think about it. Carmel knows it, Shamus knows it, we know it, in short: practically everyone who spent two seconds thinking about it knows.
How can we think the execs at EA, 2K and what-have-you DON'T? Even if they might make you think otherwise - they're smart people, or they should be. So of course they know.
They just claim they don't, and that's because it would be really ugly for them to admit what they're really after: Thrashing the used games market. Think of it. That's what DRM really works against, because nobody buys a game when they can't be sure that they're even able to play it.

Of course, this rationale is not as smart as company execs would like to think. Because if you want to buy the game used because you don't want to or just can't shell out 60 bucks - how on Earth is DRM supposed to change that? The nicest way to go would be not to get it at all - but, dear publishers, I've got news for you: Most people aren't that nice, they're going to pirate. Congrats.

 

[Ralackk]

Didn't Carmel later claim that most of their revenue from World of Goo came from the Virtual Console and Steam? It may not be DRM, but using a console or Valve's service is just a variation on the concept.

Just saying.

The thing is it wasn't exclusive to either of those, you can get it from the world of goo website region and drm free as well as sites like playgreenhouse. Steam just happens to be a very popular digital distribution network.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Didn't Carmel later claim that most of their revenue from World of Goo came from the Virtual Console and Steam? It may not be DRM, but using a console or Valve's service is just a variation on the concept.

Just saying.

The thing is it wasn't exclusive to either of those, you can get it from the world of goo website region and drm free as well as sites like playgreenhouse. Steam just happens to be a very popular digital distribution network.

Right, but if he's going to brag about DRM not being necessary he needs to light all the money on fire from those sales, particularly the Virtual Console where the game was the most popular, because you can only get their game by paying on the Wii.

 

[Ralackk]

Didn't Carmel later claim that most of their revenue from World of Goo came from the Virtual Console and Steam? It may not be DRM, but using a console or Valve's service is just a variation on the concept.

Just saying.

The thing is it wasn't exclusive to either of those, you can get it from the world of goo website region and drm free as well as sites like playgreenhouse. Steam just happens to be a very popular digital distribution network.

Right, but if he's going to brag about DRM not being necessary he needs to light all the money on fire from those sales, particularly the Virtual Console where the game was the most popular, because you can only get their game by paying on the Wii.

I can't really comment on the virtual console as I have never used it nor am I familiar with how it works. For Steam though I see no problem with it, everyone has a option not to buy it on Steam, it is avaliable DRM and Steam free from other places. Just because he released it on Steam as well to take advantage of another digital distribution network does not mean he endorses DRM.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I think more than anything else, he's showing that spending your limited budget on gameplay instead of huge marketed, celeb voiceovers, million dollar cutscenes and licensed teen rock soundtracks, means you are not risking so much cash in the first and therefore can sell it cheaper and not lose so many customers because they would risk $10 and not $60.

Of course there's places for MGS4 and GTA4, but often there's mediocre games dressed up in expensive makeup, but pay for it, and when you wake up the morning after you'll realise what you have.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I'm not surprised world of Goo got so pirated. Its a great game but Seriously? 20$? You can get Mass Effect for that price.

Although I am surprised that they would PUBLICLY denounce DRM.

 

[TheBluesader]

Ron Carmel and 2D Boy know something about piracy. Their award-winning and critically lauded puzzle game, World of Goo, made headlines last year not just for being an outstanding game, but for having an outstanding piracy rate [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87450-World-of-Goo-Experiences-90-Percent-Piracy-Rate] of 90 percent. So you'd think Carmel would be all about putting up rows of fences to keep the pirates at bay, but DRM, he believes, isn't the right way to do it.

Ron Carmel is now my new game dev hero. As if World of Goo's fantastic gameplay and stylish presentation weren't enough.

Thanks for the post, Keane. It's good to know these people are still out there, skirting EA's crocodile chompers.

 

[oliveira8]

DRM! Uh! What is it good for!? Absolutly nothing!

 

[thiosk]

Shame on everyone who pirated World of Goo.

A BEAUTIFUL game.

I oppose DRM, and have made it a matter of point to attempt to purchase Stardock games on a regular basis. I also scored some Goo via my Wii (omg that sounds bad)

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Mr.Carmel is absolutely right. DRM didn't stop Spore from being the most pirated game ever.

DRM also didn't stop 80% percent of Carmel's user base pirating the game either.

 

[ratix2]

saying "steam is drm" is like saying hard rock is country, there is some overlap in the two areas but they are very different all together. steams whole drm claim is based on the fact that steam uses an account system in which you cant install and play games that arent registered to your account. it has no rigid install limits and it doesent install any rootkits or malware on your system like starforce or securom, its just an account system. but that isnt and hasant stopped people (myself included) from logging onto my steam account and installing stalker or ut3 or mass effect or deus ex or any of the other 80 or so steam games i have in my account on my friends or my cousins computers and playing them, or even letting my friends try them out while steam is logged into my account. steam even goes a few steps further by letting me create backups of my games for quicker installs on other systems. you could argue that you have to be connected to steam to even play the games even if the content is already on the computer, but seeing how much steam offers in return, in game internet browsing, friends list, messaging, voice chat, etc. even in games that arent available over steam id say its a fair trade off. and seeing that steam itself is such a lightweight program the only issue is if you dont have an internet connection. yes, it can be fustrating if you dont have an internet connection or it craps out on you, but it cant really be considered drm. steam is digital distribution, NOT drm as so many of you continue to claim it to be.

i dispise drm as much as anyone else, it pisses me off that stalker clear sky and crysis warhead use securom, all it does is piss all over the costumers that actually bought the game and does nothing to stop piracy. in fact one could argue that drm is not actually meant to stop piracy but rather help publishers control the content, but using it doesent work and thats been proven. microsoft years ago comissioned a study that found that drm just wouldnt work, and all the time it continues to be proven correct, but calling steam drm is just asanine. in the literal sense, yes, it provides digital rights management, but it doesent even come close to the level of things like starforce or securom and it hasant stopped me from playing the games i like as much as i want whenever, whereever i want and i would argue that it even allows me to do that easier than it would be if i didnt use steam.

 

[oliveira8]

*snip on a huge post about Steam*

Yes Steam is awesome and offers great things and the only thing you need to have it is 1.Have internet 2.have harddrive space. I think every one that enjoys video games has both.

Also Spy vs Spy rules.

 

[mooncalf]

Three cheers for Ron Carmel, and more sales for World of Goo!

 

[Doug]

Smart guy - DRM == bad for customer == drop in sales == spending more resources on pirates than on the customer who paid for the thing.

Piracy is caused by: overpricing, multiple release dates, different prices in different countries, a lack of demos, and of course, people just being too damn lazy to pay for them like a normal person.

 

[Cubilone]

DRM! Uh! What is it good for!? Absolutly nothing!

Thumbs-up for the reference there...

I think he is absolutely right... And especially coming from him, whose game was severely pirated last autumn.

 

[thiosk]

*snip*

I have also come around to the pro-steam camp. It was so useful over christmas while visiting the 'rents