Game Developer Flirts With Pirates on BitTorrent Sites
Written by enigmax on April 27, 2009The developer of a new Windows-based first person shooter game is leaving comments on torrent sites via the actual torrent uploader in attempt to reach out to those thinking of downloading the game. ACE Team, the developer of Zeno Clash, acknowledges that people might like to ‘try before they buy’ and says they will not try to stop piracy.
There are many ways of trying to influence those who like to share files online. Mostly the influence comes from the likes of the MPAA, RIAA and IFPI, who universally like to ‘persuade’ would-be file-sharers with the threat of legal action, actual legal action and propaganda. This approach doesn’t work.
There are softer approaches available. In 2007 we interviewed Trey Harrison, a developer who instead of threatening the people who cracked his software (’Salvation’), actually took the time to engage them instead. The group responsible actually agreed not to crack any more of his software – quite a result.
Now it is the turn of ACE Team, an independent game development studio located in Chile. Their latest game, Zeno Clash, is described as a fighting/first person shooter and was nominated in January as a finalist in the Independent Games Festival competition, in the category of ‘Excellence in Visual Art’.
Of course, none of this can stop a game being pirated and Zeno Clash has turned up on various torrent sites – nothing out of the ordinary there. However, what is unusual is the developers’ response to the situation. Instead of getting in touch with the sites and demanding that the torrent be removed, ACE Team have decided to tackle would-be pirates head on – with an appeal posted in the comment sections of the torrent.
I’m one of the developers of Zeno Clash. I would appreciate you read this if you are about to download this file.
Zeno Clash is an independently funded game by a very small and sacrificed group of people. The only way in which we can continue making games like this (or a sequel) is to have good sales.
I am aware that at this moment there is still no demo of the game, but we are working on one which will be available soon.
We cannot do anything to stop piracy of the game (and honestly don’t intend to do so) but if you are downloading because you wish to try before you buy, I would ask that you purchase the game (and support the independent game development scene) if you enjoy it. We plan on updating Zeno Clash with DLC and continuing support for the game long after it’s release.
Thanks for taking the time to read this… hopefully it will make a difference.
Carlos Bordeu
ACE Team
Interestingly, although posted officially on at least one site, this message has been spread by the torrent’s uploader – who says he wants to help ACE Team. “I want to help developers to sell more of this good game, that’s all,” he said.
Carlos Bordeu from ACE Team told TorrentFreak, “Our ‘anti-piracy’ technique is basically the best approach we thought was possible. I think appealing to the conscience of people who download the game is the best we can do. Zeno Clash is not an expensive game. We don’t believe in restrictive DRM.”
The responses from file-sharers have been pretty positive too – even from the hardcore over at The Pirate Bay. Here are a few of them – note, not a “F**K the MPAA/RIAA” in sight……
“It was a touching comment (seriously) I will dl it and see if I like it and then will see if I buy it or not.”
“I love how the developers are commenting in here. Thanks a lot for doing it, instead of fighting the piracy.”
“I have not bought a game in 5 years, but the attitude of the developers has made me want to purchase their game. Fuck, if I like this game, I’m gonna buy it!”
“Developers like this deserve the money. They didn’t come on here with a preconceived notion that we are all thieves who don’t buy our software. I like that, because I and most of the people who use this actually do buy the software and other goods that we enjoy.”
Carlos told us, “We honestly think that ‘converting’ the people who download the game into buyers is a much better strategy than trying to fight them. We are also improving the original game, so it will include features and content that people who download the game will probably miss.”
At the moment downloads of Zeno Clash are pretty low, although it’s hard to say if the developer’s message has had anything to do with that, but a fresh approach is always welcome.
Previously: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent
Next: Taiwan Bans Torrent Sites, Brings in 3 Strikes for File-Sharers
101 Responses
nice
It’s not much, but it’s a start. Hopefully this mentality will spread to the bigger publishers as well.
I never play computer games – so I don’t care !
I ussually read the comments when I download a game and I have passed on few that were by small independent developers, users will generally post not to down load if this is the case, specifically I went through more official channels to try out mount and blade after finding out that it had such a good fan base and dedicated developer
way to go
i can believe that someone dont try to put us in jail for trying a game.Becouse of the comments i read from the developers i’m gonna buy their game.if they support us,we support you…
That’s a very nice approach, when it works hopefully more developers and stuff will do it.
“Hopefully this mentality will spread to the bigger publishers as well.”
Thats a BIG hope right there. Maybe the current economic climate ‘may’ change some of the corporate greedbag’s business-model’s.
Nice story this TF.
Already bought this on steam, and reading this made me even more happy that i did.
I used to download most my games illegally, but steam provides a good service and converted me. Now i have over 90 games on my steam account. I can go anywhere in the world and use any computer with internet access and play my games. No download restrictions etc.. actually has some good features so my key binds and other settings are automatically downloaded for some games.
Its how games should be sold, and every developer should have the same mentality as the zeno clash devs.
This is a great idea. Personalize the work done and hopefully people will buy the software and even go out of their way to spread the word and help.
Im not sure if this will work for all developers / publishers. After all, companies like EA will doubtfully be seen as “a very small and sacrificed group of people”… more like millionaire share-holders who pay the huge teams of programmers very little.
This is a great idea. Personalize the work done and hopefully people will buy the software and even go out of their way to spread the word and help.
If they are so “nice guys” why they don’t release the game under a copyleft licence like GNU/GPL and add a paypal link for donations on the distribution sites – morons, with the donation system you don’t have to pay taxes….
Fair dues, After building my new computer; this is one of the games im gonna try and get the boys into.
Like audiosurf, indie developers make cheap games that you will play on, and on, and on, for FUN.
I’m glad some developers haven’t forgotten that.
I will definitely “Try n Buy” this game.
The developers deserve it. Good thing that TF brought them to the ’spotlight of the bittorrent world’. Kudos
I love this game’s originality. It’s escapes art-design cliches and is actually all the more unsettling for it. I had so many heart-in-my-throat moments the first night that I had to ’shelve’ it for a while. I fully intend to finish this game, which is well outside the norm for me.
Yes, I bought a license for this game well in advance of the official release. Check if you don’t believe me. ;)
hope it works out for them. but i certainly won’t be buying any computer game i download even if i like it.
I wish that I hadn’t spent my cash on some other games now, I might try to only buy games from guys like these, hell, I’d donate to them if I had the cash.
this is a good idea, more companies should follow suit.
Assuming someone in such companies pays attention to comments on TorrentFreak:
A donation button might be more useful than purchasing the actual game, because it would remove the middle-men(providers of the manufacturing process, blank media, as well as retailers) and give more money to the people who actually made the game.
This approach only works because it’s unique. If bigger studios, and more developers started appealing to our consciences more often, with these appeals, it wouldn’t work anymore.
I really think that this company, like the RIAA/MPAA made a business decision to do this, and if it doesn’t work, or if more developers start doing this, they will quickly head down the same route that the MAFIAA has taken.
Nice Try
A business transaction is based on a relationship, and if the publisher doesnt reach the public, there´s no transaction.
Way to go publisher.
I like gaming but can’t afford to buy them. But this approach makes me go and buy it. I hope people will support these kind of ideas. If you like the game why not go and buy it. Collect it for your memories too. But you needn’t waste your precious money to buy a crap you don’t like and make the already rich ones reacher.
Nice but I won’t buy a game from Steam no matter how cheap it it.
Release it direct download, No DRM like World of Goo
I preorderd this game for $10, for that price it is well worth it, hell I would have been happy paying $40 but not until I tried it (it sells for $20 now)
@12
there are other ways to live besides being a FOSS zealot, you should try not being on the fringe some time, its actually pretty comfy here in the middle
@18
I am not sure if this is being sold in brick and mortar stores yet, as far as I know its steam only.
@19
I try and buy a lot of games that aren’t necessarily unique, I just want to see if a game is fun, I completed farcry2, fallout3, call of duty 4 and many others before actually buying them.
I’ve just checked this game on Russian major tracker torrents.ru Ironically, Zeno Clash uploads are closed by copyright holder there.
Finally a company that understand´s this is the 21st century! ±D
Sudden outbreak of common sense in Chile…?
Quick, sound the alarms!
^^^^^^^^^^^^ AgelessMate. COM ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
An attractive woman in her 30’s or 40’s who is on the hunt once again. She may be found in the usual hunting grounds: nightclubs, bars, beaches, etc. She will not play the usual B.S. games that women in their early twenties participate in. End state, she will be going for the kill, just like you. Associated with milfs…
I would buy more games if I knew that all of the money went to the developers.
They should made a “Donate here”-buttom and a download link, this way all the EB-Games (and similar shops) wont get money for reselling games
I wouldn’t have downloaded the game w/o that message.
Didn’t find the time to play it yet, but I will and perhaps decide to buy it.
Now that is the way these things should be dealt with! To be honest, the only games I have ever paid for were BF1942, Halo, CSS and Age of Empires 2. To be completely honest, they are epic masterpieces. I still play them all often.
I have downloaded and played pretty much all FPS games released for quite a few years, and they quite frankly lack the thought and heart put into the old games. COD5 and RSV2 being a few of the higher quality games I would of actually considered donating to or paying for, if they were not so hell bent on SecureRom or Safedisc. They need to understand NoCD cracks are about as popular as pirated music. Stop wasting time with protection…
Some of the best games I have ever played were free. Battlefield Heroes, Combat Arms, Americas Army, WarRock. I am not against paying for games, but when they want to charge you an arm and a leg to play some half ass game cut short for their to-be-released lame ass sequel, it makes me sick.
Zeno Clash’s gameplay looks more like something I would not want to play, but if it gets popular enough, they add some new things to it and they maintain their current stance towards pirates, I may actually buy it to support them.
Keep up the good work ACE Team.
@12, you clearly have no comprehension of how a capitalist society functions.
Software thats released under GNU etc.. is generally never intended to generate any sizeable income. Donations help keep the software updated, and pay for the website etc… but can never be expected bring in a large enough sum to feed a family.
Such software is useually developed in spare time.
@23, why are you against steam. (just curious)
I’d love to see a developer put up a site with his staff on it with a “Fed/Paid” gauge for each person who worked on the game. So people can realize how much money they’ll need to spend to support the developers. Right now all is completely anonymous.
Interesting aspect to making more of a profit ACE team, well played.
hey interesting check this out , this was posted at filenest.com
link : http://www.filenest.com/mailed/ready-ok-2008-dvdrip-xvid-delta9
1. Mark Holmes Says:
April 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
The posting of this file is in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other US and international copyright laws.
For some people, that doesn’t matter, but as the producer of this film, let me share something with people who are uploading or downloading this file:
This movie was made with our personal savings of around $75,000. It is not a Hollywood blockbuster; every person who worked on it worked for very small wages or for free. We have not even made back our investment yet, and by downloading this, you are not stealing from a huge corporation but from a small group of filmmakers and actors who drive 20-year-old cars, rent small apartments and struggle to make ends meet.
If you want to watch Ready? OK!, go to our website at http://www.readyokmovie.com and order the DVD or if you want to download it, do it legally from iTunes.
Thank you.
Mark Holmes
Producer
Ready? OK!
The game is awesome, cheap and it’s so cool that only a few guys made this during 2 years or something like that! I bought it on Steam after playing the “demo” on thepiratebay after seeing the message, ACE is a seriously cool dev and they don’t have a lot of DRM shit like the big companies.
Devs should pay people to play games.Honestly this game is a peice of shit.I deleted it within 15 mintues od downloading it.
I feel raped and i demand my bandwidth back.
@12
You are some of the guys that make file-shares be seen as bad guys.
No matter how a developer approaches, you will disagree, ever.
Guys like you deserves things like “stop it or face the consequences”.
im buying it, even if the game sux :D
I dl this game didn’t like it, but I totally agree with the devs of this game I buy any game I like that I have downloaded. Its the best way Demos are useless in my eyes they often show an unfinished version of the game. Downloading and trying before you buy is a good thing to do. Because most stores if not all wont allow you to return a opened game, which isnt fair if the game sucks at least when you download a game you can play a few levels of something thats finished, and decide if you want to buy it then.
to those that say they should have a donation button to cut out the middle man they have already said that:
“Valve is entitled to their share in the game’s sale. After all we are using their engine and distribution system.”
see their offical forums:
http://forums.aceteam.cl/index.php?showtopic=588
If the game is cheap, that’s OK, a good reason to buy.
However I would personally prefer to donate / pay developers directly, instead of paying money to big publishers. That way, the game could be cheaper, still the dev team could earn quite as much as they do dealing with publishing house.
—Kopimi—
@23
if i worked for the IRS and i audited u and find u received donations from an online game and knowingly didnt pay taxes and u do not have a none profit business i am going to take ur ass to jail!!!
in the real world u can not take donations and not claim them as income unless u have a nonprofit organization (corp) with a license this means u can not put the cash directly into ur pocket legaly!!!
good luck…
This is cool, donation button is a must have though, provide as many ways as possible for people to easily contribute = win.
The problem with demos from the big players are that they dont have the DRM in them that breaks so many games and makes the final version unplayable – I only buy games that I have downloaded and cracked as I used to get caught out frequently (and couldn’t get a refund!)
Thats pretty cool
i like the way some dev’s have the balls to come in on our terf and shout and scream at us for doing what we do best, i honestly find those dev’s really funny, but i have to give respect to ACE-Team for actually coming on a torrent site and “talking” with the pirates
Major respect for that, and one more sale for their pockets
To game developers of Zeno Clash :
We are not thieves and we consider ourselves as Robin Hood.
We steal only from rich MAFFIA and then distribute to poor people.We will definately buy this had if We like it.
Thanks.
To game developers of Zeno Clash :
We are not thieves and we consider ourselves as Robin Hood.
We steal only from rich MAFFIA and then distribute to poor people.We will definately buy this game if We like it.
Thanks.
How to make and profit from games:
1. Create a good game, don’t add any retarded copy protection that might f**k up customers computers.
2. Sell it with reasonable price. Smaller the price tag, more people will buy it.
3. Let people pirate your game, it will be on p2p soon anyway if it’s any good. Let the pirates promote your game, it’s the best advertisement you can ever get.
4. Include extras with original legal product that can not be downloaded (like artwork)
5. DON’T SUE PEOPLE for downloading your game.
6. Profit
Agree with #49
The best commercial you can get for a new movie/game is piracy! I allways download before i buy! It’s a shame spending alot of money on crap…
http://forums.aceteam.cl/index.php?showtopic=592
yeah…they just don’t know what they just did :)
good thing though they are open to new things :)
At first, I had heard people saying how this was just someone spamming torrent sites with comments like these, but I am glad to know that this is truly coming from the developers themselves. It seems indie developers tend to be a lot kinder and more understanding to pirates then big name corporations/publishers (who just want to plague us with lawsuit threats and brutal DRM schemes).
I too would have bought Zeno Clash as I did download it in order to first try it out (usually I will require more than what the demo provides in order to fully evaluate a game) but it did not make enough of an appeal to me so I discarded my copy afterwards.
53rd!! Woooooooohh
#44 is right on the money.
@12 You clearly have no understanding of tax law. If a for profit company asks for “donations” for a product it is still taxable. Idiot.
I can honestly say that i have downloaded games, played them, liked them, and purchased them based on a taste of the entire game without having to pay first.
yeah so much talk but no one’s gonna buy it.
piraters = stealing stuff to use permanently for free
when you pirate stuff you don’t go buy it later on. that’s bs excuse
i pirate software apps music and games and i and many ppl don’t go buy it when we like it. we just pirate and steal more.
so this won’t really do anything but get them congratlations and praise.
Noooooooooooo – they is brainwashing us.
Only joking, kudos to the developers, if more companies communicated with the pirates they might be able to squeeze so cash out of them / us.
downloading it now. If it’s good enough I will buy this.
Hmm, no demo is definitely a bad thing – I might find a copy of this game to try and if it’s good I’ll buy it for sure.
Stuart Hannig: You’re pretty narrow-minded.
Look… easiest way to make more sales all they gotta do is make the game internet multi-player and make sure the internet multi-play is awesome…
Then people would be forced to have a legit serial key if they wanted to play online….cuz we all know most of the good games always are ten times better online….like UT3, Bf1942, COD4, Age of Empires, Rise of Nations….etc…etc….
you wont see me paying for any program that requires me to run it through Wine or boot over to windows.
i might even go & buy the game for the hell of it cos the developers are actually civilized humans by the sounds of it
linux user here, here are my thoughts
1. Games that are a few years old AND are not generating revenue should be opened up (GPL)
2. open source is a factor when i buy a product, however its not a primary factor.
3. microsoft is pure evil. this isnt because they are closed source but their bullying.
4. if you release a game on an evil OS, expect it to be pirated, you are only increasing dependence on people to own windows operating systems.
5. release on multiple platforms or expect those who don’t like to boot over into windows to steal your games.
stardock is already doing this:
their CEO (who posts on the forums daily) said something like “fine, go torrent it, try it but for updates that contain free content you’ll need to connect online with a key”
Valve can go fuck itself. I wouldn’t touch Steam if you held a gun to my head. Among other things, it employs some of the foulest DRM in the known universe and seeks to kill the used game market.
Although this is kind of moot, since I don’t have a PC that could play Zeno clash anyway, and I’ll never, ever pay for a digital download. If I’m going to buy something then I’m going to buy a real, physical copy. I do not enjoy the concept of my purchases going up in smoke because of data corruption or a hard drive failure.
Big love to ACE Team for having the right idea, but too bad they’re in bed with Valve. Even if I had the hardware to run Zeno Clash and even if I wasn’t against paying for digital copies, I wouldn’t support them for that reason alone.
It’s like if they signed with EA.
@66 – Anonymous
I know you haven’t used Steam before or else you would know your purchases are safe even if you had an hard drive failure or had to reformat for one reason or another because you can redownload the game as many time as you want. I’ve redownloaded Team Fortress 2 probably 5-6 times now and Left 4 Dead 2-3 times.
Hell Blizzard is now letting you download Starcraft, Diablo II, and Warcraft III–provided you have a valid CD key–from their server although it is a bit slow.
Until 1st person shooters make a low res opengl 2ish compatible mode.. people like me won’t even be downloading the pirated copy.. I’d have to upgrade my video card.. 98% of which are PCI-E (opengl 3.x,4.x) & my 6yo mobo is a agp bus..Grr!
So the $100+ it’s gonna set me back to try their games isn’t worth it right now, perhaps when some other evolutionary thing happens.. I’ll be interested in 2007+ 1st person shooters again.. until then he’s speaking to the $475+ 2006 and later computer owners who torrent pirated games.
“Becouse of the comments i read from the developers i’m gonna buy their game.if they support us,we support you…”
Same here, although I havnt seen it in Australian stores…Once I do I will buy it though, only because the developers recognise the idea of trying it before you buy it.
The whole purpose of this was to get pirates to pay for it. I think that the whole, it touched me thing is bullshit, but good tactic on the game developers part.
I remember the first game that I downloaded off the internet. It was ID Softwares’ Castle Wolfenstein 3d. I had originally bought and played the 2d game on the C64 and through wow a remake in 3d. Well it was offered ONLY on the net in shareware form. The first three I think levels were downloadable and then the next bunch were if you registered the game.
I am all for game developers and I do not download Torrent games unless they are demos’ of the games off torrent….unfortunatly I have been burned buying 40% rating games (rated after purchase) so now I will not buy a game unless it gets a 80%+ rating on PC Gamer or they have an unrestricted demo of the first levels….
ID software was the forfront of game design and distribution…that is why they all could affort nice cars…it wasn’t the middle men in distribution that took the majority of the share of profits it was ID itself…they continues to release their Doom and Quake games to huge audiences….
Wolfenstein 3d took about a week to download and it was about 3 floppies to install….17 years ago…
Cudos to ID Software.
Cheers,
OT
From Wiki
One of the most influential games of all-time, 1992’s Wolfenstein 3D was the first great first person shooter. While Wolfenstein 3D’s concept was nothing revolutionary, its nearly flawless implementation, presentation, and use of technology helped catapult id Software to its current superstar status.
The title screen of Wolfenstein 3D
In a worthless piece of videogame trivia, it turns out that William J. Blazkowicz’s (the person you play in Wolfenstein 3D) grandson turned out to be Commander Keen.
Released during the glory days of shareware, still a few years before the Internet became mainstreamed, Wolfenstein 3D’s shareware version (and the full version as well, in some cases) was widely distributed via thousands of BBS’s (bulletin board systems) and passed along to countless friends via floppies. While no one will ever know exactly how many people played the shareware version of Wolfenstein 3D (millions), over 250,000 copies were sold direct via mail order and limited retail distribution. ActiVision re-released Wolfenstein 3D some time ago, bundled with Quake II and Hexen II demos, so you may even see it on the store shelves to this day.
While Wolfenstein 3D certainly wasn’t the first FPS game ever released, it’s combination of (at the time) stunning technology, visceral action, and realistic theme made it an instant hit. The “256-color, smooth scrolling virtual reality” engine was unlike anything most people had ever seen before. When combined with the awesome sound and ahead of its time music by Bobby Prince (who later did Commander Keen’s and DOOM’s sound work), the result was an immersive, fresh experience for even the most jaded PC gamer.
Wolfenstein 3D in action
Nearly everyone who played Wolfenstein 3D shortly after its release can remember being in awe for a few minutes and then nearly jumping out of their chair once spotted by a shouting German guard. This was one feature (amongst many others) that was directly taken from the game that Wolfenstein 3D was heavily inspired by, Silas Warner’s Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple II. Castle Wolfenstein is (obviously) a great game in its own right, and was popular enough to spawn a sequel (Beyond Castle Wolfenstein). Wolfenstein 3D also produced a sequel, the not nearly as popular Spear of Destiny.
Wolfenstein 3D is also a great example of how far ‘3D’ games have advanced. The game seems incredibly primitive when compared to the FPS games of today, as levels feature only 90-degree angles, no changes in elevation, lighting, or height. However, Wolfenstein 3D’s gameplay, for the most part, still serves as the foundation for the FPS games of today. There are a few arcade-style influences that weren’t really necessary to implement in hindsight, such as a traditional point scoring system and a limited amount of lives (with one-ups), but the basic ‘find the key, push switches, pick up guns that are laying around and kill everything in sight’ style of gameplay is still going strong.
While the graphics look dated and pixilated now, they’re still pretty decent. The sound and music may actually be even better than you remember it, as most sound cards of the time didn’t support some of the more advanced MIDI instruments that are used in the game. The hardest thing about playing Wolfenstein 3D is the fact that the game runs too fast (at least while you’re running) on today’s powerful computers. You can solve this problem with the DOS application Mo’Slo for example.
Very few games have made a bigger impact than Wolfenstein 3D. Wolfenstein 3D not only practically gave birth to an entire new genre, its repercussions changed the entire industry forever.
so hows the game anyways? any good ?
Hmm. It looks like a good game. So I’ll buy it cause they are awesome.
“piraters = stealing stuff to use permanently for free
when you pirate stuff you don’t go buy it later on. that’s bs excuse”
@57: Time to shoot down yet another troll. I am living proof that your claim is false. I had Bioshock and Psychnauts pirated for a while and after fully evaluating it from start to finish, THEN I bought it as I will do with any worthwhile game (or else just delete it in time).
One futher thought, most online MMORPG games distribute through P2P. I don’t know if they are BT or not but CBC Canada released shows on BT because it was cheaper then posting them on their website to download…it costs them less.
CW TV used to have episodes of shows online to watch, they stopped that because of people watching online instead of watching in the neilson box ratings….no idea why but when you work different hours that watching the neilson box times doesn’t meet with todays group of people….shame that CW dropped the episodes after the first season…
If someone came up with a way that I can download/steam any TV show I want, then I would get rid of MY evert channel TV subscription even though we never watch TV.
TV show distribution has to change
Cheers,
OT
@3 me
“I never play computer games – so I don’t care !”
LOL the most constructive comment today!
Anyway, things are going into the right direction for piracy, even tho the current state of war against it in some countries. Things will get interesting till summer this year in the piracy world, cant tell more, just wait and presence it.
I am not a Torrent user however I support Pirate bay. I like the Zeno approach to solve the copyright problem. In the developers appeal I suggest to add “Please buy the software if possible, if not please send your contribution any amount that you think it deserves or at least the word thanks.”
pirater = stealing to make a profit
p2p users = non commercial sharing, most often by poorer people who would nto either buy said product OR afford the fees associated to gaining access to it.
ya think if everyone had to pay 400$ for vista ultimate there would be even its level a use OR xps 150$ price tag?
I hope this game does well for them
EA, take note.
“Our ‘anti-piracy’ technique is basically the best approach we thought was possible. I think appealing to the conscience of people who download the game is the best we can do.”
This is a clever tactic from the software house and they are plaing those dumb pirates perfectly!
time to buy this game to support the developers..
actually if i read that i would have bought it
I pre-purchased this off steam when it was 12€, brilliant game! A must buy for indipendant supporters
If larger game companies took this approach rather than grouping all file sharers into the same group of trash/thieves I would buy their products more often if i liked it.
Old Timer: Hear, hear! I do the same only I use metacritic and a few other favourite review/gaming sites of mine (rockpapershotgun is one of them), buying PC gamer ended up being more expensive than the actual games. ;D
Well… there just isn’t that many good games being made anymore, and I blame the consoles. They brought an entire new market to exploit and it’s now so big that most developers go for the console drones that have almost never played a good game and is used to really high prices and PC gamers become second class citizens with dumb down, low quality games and paid updates. MEH! Indie gaming is bringing a new era on PC, it’s back and it’s better than ever. :)
I think the real problem with piracy is cost. $100+AUS a game is a fortune, no matter which way you cut it. I have no problems impulse buying 2 or 3 games in the 10-20 mark, but I only ever buy $100 games cautiously.
If games came out that were closer to $50 AUS (about $30US), I think they’d see a marked increase in sales. $50 is a buy legit, $100 is a pirate.
@57. Games I’ve pirated before buying.
Assassin’s Creed
Company of Heros
Dawn of War
Battlefield 2
Witcher
Spore (regretfully)
I have more legit copies of games than I do illegal. Infact the vast majority of my pirated games are ones that, for one reason or another, I can’t actually buy. (Not released, abandoned, censored for local market, etc).
just added this game to my dl queue
if i like the game, ill look into buying it for the 40+ computers we have in our store
@89
the games ive bought after pirating/trying…..
the entire warcraft set (even wow)
starcraft
halflife and mods
halflife 2 and mods and episodes
the call of duty set
age of empires set
command and conquer series
civilization set
bioshock
shadowrun
halo, and halo 2, not halo 3(im a pc gamer, MICROSOFT!!!!!!!)
i could go on for a while……
I’d spit in most of you’re faces you pirating scumbags, who the hell do you think you are thinking you deserve to get whatever you want for FREE and then decide to buy it if you like it. What a bunch of stupid, twisted lowlifes. It’s because of YOU my favorite platform for gaming is becoming extinct and no matter how you try to justify the theft you do it’s still STEALING plain and simple. Why can’t you put it through you’re thick skulls the damage you have done to the PC gaming market??? You take pride in being PC gamers not console gamers but you have destroyed it with piracy.
Don’t worry though things work funny in this world it’s called karma. If you don’t pay for what you steal it’ll hit you in other ways believe that. Keep doing what you are doing and some day there won’t be any PC games left to pirate then what are you going to do go buy a console and ruin them next? You have already done that to the PSP and DS (GTA Chinatown great example)… Keep on patting yourselves on the back but in all reality you are scums and you’ve killed a industry.
Sorry to burst your capitalistic bubble, but FREE is here to stay regardless if you like it or not.
Companies either will embrace it like EA (Company of Heroes), ID (Quake Live) or they will die.
Today there is NO reason to purchase a game when there hundreds of FREE alternatives.
LONG LIVE FREEDOM and the Pirate Bay
A good cheap game, time scales like maxpayne 2 short but sweet, plus the tower section is a good diversion when your bored. Visually impressive and worth the cash.
I preordered via Steam, game is great. I am even happier I bought it now that the dev’s comments have come to light.
See, at the moment, I have quite a few downloaded games because I lost my job. As soon as I’ve got another, and out of debt, I’ll go back to buying the games.
Now that I’ve seen how these guys are handling it, I now WANT to download it and see if I like it enough to want to buy it.
I usually go for games I’ve heard good things about, of if I’ve played demos of them, and as a last resort, download them and try the full game for a bit.
I wasn’t considering getting it at all. But it’s downloading in uTorrent now. This will be FIRST on my list games I need to actually buy (if I like it of course).
Thank you to the ACE Team for showing some common sence. We need more development teams just like you.
and to post #92, I think you’re missing the point. There is countless proof that people who pirate, download more.
The thing that is driving PC gaming to hell (which is my favourite gaming platform), is the fact the hardware is going through TOO MUCH development, and stupid development companies are insisting on pushing the latest hardware to it’s limit with beautiful, yet pointless graphics. The only thing that TRULEY matters is the game play and story, graphics come after those.
But in turn, people won’t buy a game cos they’re computer can’t handle, so they have to upgrade, they’re not gonna do it cos’ it cost’s quite a bit of money. And not buy the game. The only thing that’s gonna save PC gaming, is to stop trying so hard to force companies to release new and more powerfull hardware.
The other problem is people’s stupidity at “HD Gaming” with the PS3 and X-Box 360. As soon as they realise that HD gaming has been around for years (obviously with computers), and the fact our computers can go over HD, maybe people will switch.
Other thing you have to remember, is that because a games console is a specialist unit, it specialises in GAMES. So the hardware doesn’t have to be anywhere near as powerful as a computer to run the same game, therefore making it cheaper. And it’s less hassle, unless your unfortunate to have a 360 anyway. haha.
And to solve that problem?
Just hope that Microsoft won’t fuck up W7, cos’ if they do, being an ENORMOUS fan of PC gaming, I may even be led to leave in favour of console gaming, no matter how terrible the controls are, at least it’ll be cheaper.
I wonder how many will agree with me on this???
And I apologise for two simultaneous posts.
If either of these get’s deleted due too this, then I ask to delete my other messege, and not this one.
Hmm. It looks like a good game. So I’ll buy it cause they are awesome.
http://www.tech3d.net
Zeno Clash is an awesome game. The level of art that goes into the levels is incredible. It also plays great with a xbox 360 controller. A definite BUY.
YOUR GAY
@100 /lol Great comment
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