Oh, and congratulation on passing the Steam Greenlight! If there’s ever a sequel, I’ll be among the first to buy it 
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P.S - I wrote this late at night/early morning with out much sleep, so there are a few spelling mistakes and I missed a couple of words out of sentences,lol
I just wanted to add, that I do however think that big companies could do a lot to cut down their dev costs, and that I do think they over estimate the amount that piracy costs them… But, regardless of that, it is still piracy that causes the bad statre of affairs that games and gameDev is in…Whether piracy actually does cause as much finacial damage to big companies or not, it does cause harm to the games we love and play due the reactions of the big companies.
i.e - shorter games, DLC that should have been in the games, in game purchases…ect ect…
I think many will start using Kickstart, that way they get a good portion of the money up front…so can create awesome games… Basically the people like EA look at figures of pirated copies and make some bad conclusions from the data…then do bad things to recoup money they ‘might’ / ‘may’ have lost… They fail to take into account that many who pirate DO buy the game, just not at full price at release…adn the ones who dont buy it, but do pirate it, well they were never going to buy it anyway, so there is NO money lost there! Theyfail to accept that… they simply see it as 'Its a copy of the game that SHOULD have been paid for, therfore we ‘are’ losing money!" So then the implement things that make the games worse…short length, DLC that is questionable as to if its withheld on purpose, bad intrusive DRM etc… All of these are bad for games and gamers… Its even bad for the companies…They just do not see it, or maybe do not want to… This is why many have made the switch to digital distribution as well… It cuts the cost of the game dev by a considerable amount… No cases, no inlay cards or discs etc… saves them shit tons of cash. Also, they cannot then be relsold second hand… which is another thing certain people hate with a passion…
The CEO of Obsidian, thinks that: " second hand games sales are hurting the industry as much as pirates" 'and that they want to see ALL games sold digitally, so people cannot re sell them…and he wants them to all have DRM where you need to be connected to the internet… and basically blames gamers for the state of affairs…
In truth, if they made ‘good’ games to start with, that actually worked at release, then more people would buy them at release… I myself, rarely buy games at release… Only titles I ‘really’ want to play… I play predominatly RPGs and MMOs, so tbh I do not buy, nor play, that many different games…The odd game that comes along that I think ‘might’ be interesting, I wait until the price has dropped and its been out a while. Which is another thing that the CEO of Obsidian thinks is is the cause of bad games nowadays…people not paying full price at release…He stated that they have to use DLC , to ensure that they get paid at least something for their games… again…it only hurts the honest gamers who actually DO pay for their games… So, you can see, Piracy DOES effect the quality of games, and It 100% does effect every gamer that pays for their games…
Most people I know ‘do buy’ the games they pirate, they just pirate them if they are skint at release, or some to try it and see if its worth it or not… and if its ok, but not great, they buy it when the price has fallen…
As a MMORPG player, I am no rush to play many games as I have my free time spent online play WoW,Rift,Neverwinter, Lotro…and the great rpgs I have of old, Baldurs Gate I +II + xpacs, Icewind dale I + II +xpacx…Neverwinter Nights I + II +xpax…Dragon Age I + II + xpax, The Witcher I + II + DLC etc… Assasin creed.(all of them) That is basically the main games I play, I have other rpgs I havent played yet that I brought off of Amazon second hand or cheap…
I hope the info I have given helps some people to understand the effects that piracy dooes play with the quality of games, and how dangerous it is for indie developers…as well as how it negatively effect the genuine customers paying customers…
I do not agree with your point on this one. There might be people who really copy everything but for me, if I like a game, I buy it. And that said I did play many games for an hour or so that I’ve decided not to buy. And if it would be impossible to pirate them I would still not buy them - but you developers go and say: hey, it has been pirated 2million times so we’ve lost 100million $ - hilarious. For big publishers it’s just propaganda but to see a 2man indee Team shout the same is sad, very sad.
I’ll be honest, I downloaded the pirate version to see what they hype was all about. As I can see that it is freaking awesome and want to have it on my iPad, it’s going to be my pay-day treat to get it. Looking forward to seeing how big this game gets,vane also really hope you guys bring it to the iPad soon.
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@Resistanc3 We never claimed that all pirates would have otherwise bought the game. It would be silly to make such a claim but using this argument to essentially say that piracy does not affect sales is equally silly, a fact that a lot of pirates conveniently ignore. The industry knows that piracy affects sales in a big way, that’s why DRM, always-online requirements, micro-transactions (freemium models) or DLC’s are more and more common.
that’s why I prefer an up-front payment for a cool game and hope the devs get their act together and release a fun to play game…eventually.
(that prospect might fail like it did with “ports of call xxl”, paid for an unfinished promising beta-ish game hoping the dev(s) would eventually sort it out…only to find out they abandoned the project altogether)
funny case in point: I’ve seen several games(which i bought) run smoother using a “no-cd” version.
(especially games using such “atrocities” like starforce…)
to sum it up: play fair with your customers, you’ll get a fair share,
piracy might bite you, but after that PR stunt I doubt that will be a serious issue.
bootnote: give the folks @humblebundle a try.
they even accept bitcoins 
Hello,
i want to tell you something about piracy and why i thank such people what they do. Why you would ask? Am i a scum-bag piracy software user? Yes and No.
But before i go deeper in this let me tell you something: I grew up in a time without DRM, always-online and such thrings, even away from “register and be caged”. If i had a Game that i dont liked i could go back into the store, tell them what was wrong and got my money back (or at least a other game which was better)
In my whole Life i spend now over 20.000 Euro for Games (15 Years as Gamer. I bough Elite-Editions and all such stuff.) I rarely used pirated software because there was no need to. If i didnt want something i could bring it back. Today, in a World where big kons lie directly in your face “yeah, this awesome video is actually in game graphics! it is AAA!” i lost ober 5.000 Euro Money because of idiots producing bullshit games i didnt want to play more then 10 minutes and know what?
If i register a game at steam i couldnt give it back with “sorry, this game dont promise what the big con promised to me” it is more like “you bought it? your problem!”
Everytime i buy a game i let it ungrapped in its hull, lies here on my judgement table while i look for a pirate-version to test it without risking my hard earned money and in fact this method iam doing since 5 years saved me a HUGE amount of money!
Last Game: Aliens Colonial Marines, i bought the 100 Euro Edition, you know, with the little Statue. Iam a gigantic exorbitant mega fan of the aliens universe and i was so happy what the producers promised! I sat here and if not my comrade told me not to do so, i wantet to rip off this damn plastic to install the glorious new alien game!
That should be my happiest gamer day! I played EVERY alien game, saw every alien movie since the 80’s! Read every book, every comic. And there it was: A brand new alien game! After my comrade told me not to rip of the plastic and blindly registering the game on steam i used a pirated version.
You know… my fan heart broke into thousands of pieces as i played trough in less than 5 hours of crap story, bullshit ai and… god damn, i cryied! i wanted to do a extremely alien day, watching all movies with friends, playing coop and then there was this dissapointing fucking lie on my judgement table… I yelled at the storekeeper as i brought back the game but he wasnt the one betraying all real alien fans, he told me he bought the game and registered it already…
I bought every game i played more then a hour to support companies but i swear, belive what you want, call me whatever you want to do. It doesnt matter beecause i dont give a fuck to those great fan-betrayers anymore and i never spend a cent to companys doing so.
The only thing i do buy “blind” are indi-games. Games with a heart what triple-A titles never had. Pledging, spending and buying every game i want without testing it because i know that an indi-developer never would betray someone for profit.
So, bought this game right away (kay, testet it few minutes with a pirated version because i fell over the game while surfing and didnt found it on steam yet) and i will quench every minute out of it for a handfull of euros (or for you: dollars) and i had fun with it yet and in future!
Hate me now for my extremely bad english, thank you.
Stay crunchy.
FiesesAlien (Fieses=Cruel)
I know that feel. That’s why I am really careful with what I buy with online registration/download sale. And I stopped buying stuff on steam. My stepdad got Modern Warfare 2 one day, and told me I could play it too. People kept telling me that Steam can be turned offline and that it doesn’t affect stuff etc. so I just registered it. First thing was, my stepdad told me he couldn’t play the game, so I gave him my account details. Guess what Steam did when I turned it to offline mode? It still tried to go online on numerous occasions, especially when I started the game, usually resulting in either of us getting kicked out of the game. Not only that, but Steam was almost holding a contest with MW2 on how to eat CPU and I had to turn it off whenever I didn’t play MW2 so it wouldn’t eat my performance. I don’t know how much has changed since, but I don’t care. I have no trust into that company so I’ll stick with DRM-less games.
Which is why I love Game Dev Tycoon. I can share it with as many of my friends as I want, they can all play for free, and buy it if they want.
BTW: I just looked on the pirate bay, it’s so hilarious how upset the people are there.
@zengar123 DRM-free does not mean that you can freely pass the game to your friends. DRM free simply means that there is no technical limitation applied to your use so you don’t have to fight with online activation and always-on requirements. DRM free does not give you the right to distribute it. A lot of companies limit you to use the game on only one machine in their license but we wanted to be more reasonable, that’s why our license allows you to use the game on up to three computers for your personal use. If you do other things, like pass it to friends this is piracy.
If your friends want to try the game there is a free and legal DEMO. If they like it then they should buy it.
I’m from Russia, and i can’t use paypal. Why? you ask me. It simple. From Russia paypal don’t work, unless you have a credit card. You may create a paypal account, but you can’t add money. You can’t recive money on your papypal account, you may only spend money from your credit card. And many publishers accept only paypal as payment method. In steam i may use another electron money, as webmoney. And then i may buy this game, if i don’t have credit card, from steam.
I think one thing you may have underestimated (or if not-great strategy) with this is that by doing so you got a ton of publicity that brought people to the game. I advise the video game group (MEGA) on Miami University’s campus (and work a bit with the officers of the Video Game Develops (VGDC) club) on Miami University’s campus. I learned about your game because of the news stories, and it was the reason I gave the demo a chance and bought the game the night of. I can tell you that in the MEGA community (as well as the VGDC community(I believe)) you were praised for your efforts and members of those communities went out and bought your game as well. That org strongly supports indie games, and send high praise your way.
So while day one the percentage of pirates to purchases was off, I’m sure the publicity caused by it has done wonders for your company. To this, I say great job and congratulations! I look forward to your future games!
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Seriously? So it is piracy to lend my brother my Laptop to play GDT? He doesn’t have a windows 8 machine, that’s why I did that. That kind of thing is the reason I almost stopped PC gaming. There is no arbitrary restriction on what I do with my gamedisc, I can ring the doorbell at anyone in my neighbourhood and ask them to play with me on my console or bring the game to them and play at their place. The whole thing that annoyed me with DRM was the fact it’s anti-social and basically extorts money from small social groups by forcing them all to pay if they want to share the experience. Not only that, but they all have to acquire the hardware.
That licensing thing in it’s core is the same thing as DRM, it’s just the absence of a software that enforces it. By that logic, I really don’t care if there is online activation or so, because in the end it doesn’t restrict me more than this here. Peace out.
Your original post talks about sharing it with as many friends as you want so they can all play for free. This seems very different from letting your brother borrow your laptop… especially since the game wouldn’t need to be DRM free for that to happen.
There’s also a big difference between giving out multiple playable copies of a game that everyone you ‘lend’ it to can play forever, simultaneously, and sharing a single disk, which forces you to take turns and/or actually share the experience.
Are you really confused by the idea that DRM-free doesn’t mean free for everyone forever, as long as just one person pays for it once?
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As far as I’m aware, the Windows 8 version does not have the 3 PC restriction in the EULA, but that’s because it’s tied to your Microsoft account, and you’re not likely to be giving your password out to too many people. The Desktop version (which works on Windows XP / 7 / 8, Mac OS X 10.7+, and Linux) is limited to 3 computers for your own personal use.
If you wish to share your laptop with your brother, then sure, he can play, since it’s only one install… if you installed it on his laptop also, then it may be piracy. If your brother is old enough to afford his own copy, then you can demo the game to him, but he should be looking to buy his own copy. But giving a copy to your cousins or friends, except to temporarily demo the game to them, is piracy according to the terms of the EULA.
@zengar123 you were clearly saying that you share it with as many friends as you want. this is simply not okay as @gameitect summarized very well:
Hi guys, this morning i connect to ones of my usual TS, i ask “what are you playing it’s look funny”, they answer “Game dev tycoon” they was just starting, i DL it for try, illegaly of course, last 2 time i trust-buyed games i just get fooled (Galaxy on fire 2 HD & spaceforce rogue universe; 20 dollars each and i deeply regret it).
I am here, but i don’t even loose by piracy XD, i loose because my employee need +10 k per month when they lvl up, they got at lvl 3 a higher pay than a direct-hired better stats lvl 4 guy… that a fail in the simulation for me. So i came to see if game is modable, look like not.
I am already bored of the game as it is and i can’t mod it. i shall just delete it and search something else to spend my time.
but passing thought i read your very funny post about piracy. how you managed this is just so cool, i like you.
And only for how you mannaged it, i am buying your game and spreading the word about it. Even if i no more play it.
Good luck guy, younger i spent 2 and half year to create a game, me and my team just failed.
This has to be the best DRM ever, all games should have DRM of a similar context to this, not sort of DRM like EA’s arrogant DRM. My friend originally pirated this game and offered to give it to me, and we both fell in the loophole that the rest of the pirates did. When we found out this was intentional, my mate showed me the website for the game I saw that it was only £6 in my country and decided it was well worth purchasing, so not only did I purchase it once but I purchased it twice! (One legacy desktop app for use in windows and linux, and the App in the windows store) because this kind of DRM actually involves the user and isn’t intrusive and is overall very smart. However, I’m pretty sure if it had DRM like EA’s even paying users would stick two fingers up at it because it’s true what the article said, it causes more pain for paying users than it does for pirates because pirate will just bypass the DRM completely. I love this game so thanks Greenheart, cant wait for it to be on steam, and a big thumbs up for the DRM, because who needs technology when we have brains!
Landlords don’t take publicity as a rent payment.
Pirates counterfeit the game.Basically, they have a ‘fake’ copy, rather than a legitimately purchased one.
Now:
- There are NO stats proving that games with advanced DRM are pirated less than games with little to no DRM. In fact, look at Spore - the opposite seems to be true.
- There are NO stats proving that games that are pirated more sell less than games that aren’t pirated very much.
A pirate will be a pirate. If you throw enough DRM at a pirate, it might make him give up at beating the DRM… but it WON’T get you a sale. For a pirate, No pirate = No play. ‘Pay’ was never on the table (otherwise, the pirate wouldn’t be a pirate).
For an example, let’s look at zynga. It is clear from their taglines and business model that Greenheart Games HATES zynga’s business model (so do I). But 80% of zynga’s customers pay NOTHING. That’s not 80% who pay less than $50, or $5, that’s people who don’t pay a single penny. They are basically ‘legal pirates’. But if their games weren’t possible to pay without playing, they wouldn’t have 80% more paying customers, they would have 80% less customers. In fact, they would have less than that, because many of the 20% that pay were invited by the 80% that don’t pay. Basically, zynga found a way to make money off of people that don’t pay.
So Isn’t it possible that some of your paying customers were referred by pirates? That you have more total sales than you would if piracy didn’t exist?
@smilingrob some landlords take referrals in exchange for free or discounted rent.
it was the whole “piracy issue” that popped GDT up on my radar…read the story(heise.de)…laughed my *** off about pirates complaining about ingame piracy…tried the demo…spend the 8 bucks…oh well…like someone said…you’ll get lotsa fun for the price of an average McD meal.
as for the pirates…I have to admit I did “pirate” some games, way back in 80s
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