How Piracy Can Boost iPhone App Sales
Written by enigmax on January 25, 2009We recently reported the story of the pirated iPhone game ‘Whack em All’, where the developer actually engaged the game’s cracker instead of taking an aggressive stance. The dialogue had a surprising effect. Sales increased 100%, pirates donated and the game is now available free of charge.
Whack ‘em All is a game for iPhone and iPod Touch, based on the ‘Whack-a-Mole’ idea. The creators are married couple Constance and James Bossert, who together form Fairlady Media. After discovering the game had been cracked and made available for free download, they didn’t take the usual stance of setting the legal dogs on the culprits.
Instead they engaged the cracker in dialogue, and the results have proved interesting. Not least, sales are up 100% and people are donating freely.
James told TorrentFreak that after the initial disappointment, they tracked down the cracker’s email address and surprisingly he responded. “Connie read the emails I sent and thought it was really amazing that we were having a civil conversation with the guy who was directly responsible for pirating our game,” said James. “I had decided to be really nice and accommodating in the emails to have a better shot at getting the pirate to respond.”
The email exchanges are detailed in our earlier story, but it’s developments since that really shows the importance of dialogue, with James telling us that the feedback has been excellent for the company. The game was originally up for purchase on the iTunes App store, but things have changed, he notes. “We decided to release a free version supported by ads to accommodate the issues that folks were reporting with the iTunes App Store, a.k.a the ‘Crapp Store’ – no try before you buy, lack of demo versions, and too expensive.”
The game hasn’t been withdrawn from the iTunes though, with James and Connie now preferring a dual-track option for the customer – a choice to either pay for it through iTunes or download the free ad-supported version. “We feel that a free app that still provides us with revenue through advertising is the best possible solution to the issue. Ads can be annoying for some people, so we’ve left the 99 cent version out there for folks who love the game but don’t like ads. Very hopefully, this will work for us and we can use the proceeds to fund future games.”
The ad revenue is being generated through AdMob, after the company approached James and Connie with their solution. AdMob is currently offering a promotion to around 200 iPhone software developers and giving them $5,000 worth of free advertising. “The folks at AdMob were awesome,” James explained. “They got us into the promotion and we’re now utilizing all of the tools they have available, such as in-game banners, click through reporting and detection to see if someone buys your game after clicking on one of your ads.”
James also took the opportunity to tell the game’s cracker, most_uniQue, about the new, free ad-supported version. He responded saying, “People love to hate me, but that just means they don’t understand. I’m glad you try to work things out properly and I hope you get good revenue from your ads. But the thing we all would like to know is this – did this adventure boost the sale of Whack ’em All?”
Good point. Before Whack ‘em All was reported pirated, the game was getting around 10 sales each day. Now, with all the extra publicity, sales are up to 20 a day, a nice 100% increase. Piracy might be viewed as a bad thing by some, but it sure beats obscurity it seems, and with extra revenue coming in from the ad-supported version, things seem to be looking up.
Additionally, a TorrentFreak reader suggested that the developer should put up a ‘donate’ button on the site so that pirates could still show their appreciation. It’s not a huge amount, but in just a few days people donated more than $75.
most_uniQue told James that he hopes that Apple learns from this situation and allows people to try before they buy, noting that he wouldn’t be surprised if Apple contacted him at some point, while hoping it’s to thank everyone for bringing the issue to their attention.
Hopefully it’s not, “most_uniQue: Wanted dead or alive’,” he joked.
Previously: CNN Uses P2P Plugin for its Live Stream
Next: No ‘3 Strikes’ Disconnection for UK Pirates
53 Responses
Hopefully, not only Apple, and the people who make games, but also the voting population, will see the merits of sharing.
The vote is the most important, more important than the support of any private entity, and it is only through the vote that things can change, because the vote is supreme.
Some people say that a change of the situation of DRM and copyright is "what the people want." If this is so, then the only step needed is to utilize the power of the vote. Money, corruption, and trading favors can only go so far, but the vote is supreme.
Roze
http://www.10ch.org/
Good for them.
And Down with DRM!
Down with Apple!
Hopefully, not only Apple, but also the voting population, will see the merits of sharing. The vote is supreme, and it is through the vote that things can change.
People blind to the subject of file-sharing are uneducated on the subject hence the heat it takes.
This situation proved fruitful for our cause.
A next step is to educate people on the subject.
A next step is to educate people on the subject – especially the "general population."
Haven't I always been preaching that piracy actually does good to some softwares,music,movies etc. in the long run. It depends how you are able to use it.
http://stuckinframes.blogspot.com
Extra sales did NOT come because the game was pirated. It came from all the press that he got from you and other blogs after the fact.
You my friend, are half correct.
Sure, I bet 50% of the added sales were made simply because people saw the news about it, but chances are most of the Pirated it *before* they bought it. There was no "trail" version, meaning alot of people wouldnt just buy it, humans have a need to trial before they buy.
Lets use this example to help understand. Lets say a new Mario game came out on the Nintendo DS. How many people would buy it simply because the box art looks cool? Well other than grandmothers shopping for christmas presents, not many true gamers. By allowing kids to demo the game through Nintendo's "download" stations at Wal-Mart and other stores, they get to see just how cool the game and gameplay is, before they waste their toothfairly money on it.
Relate the Mario series hype to the hype made by the "free advertising" brought by the news, and then the "Downlaod station" to the pirated copy. You now see that the extra media isnt the single cause of extra sales.
http://bluehumor.org
This is great, I wish the best of luck to this couple; people who decided to learn about other people’s perspectives on an issue. Fortunately, it seemed to work out for them. I hope it continues to in the future :)
i agree all the press it got plus the stance it took generated into alot of sales
You MAFIAA fuck, why don’t you just eat shit and die? It would do humanity a big favor if you just go die in a fire.
Good to see that there are certain enlightened people in this world, but there are also those who are still not enlightened who still have too much power, like the RIAA and MPAA.
down with computers
burn all books
theyll lose it eventually, but its like a hydra
I hijacked my IPhone and I just LOVE it!
RT
http://www.privacy-tools.net.tc
We wrote on Apple's removal of the serial code requirement from iWork '09, indirectly promoting piracy as an exceptional marketing move. There is some strength behind a bit more open distribution model of software, and it would be wise for companies to pay attention to stories like this. Great article!
Any word on whether those donations will keep rolling in so that he can eat?
I would say it was more the publicity from blogs that upped the sales of this app. However the publicity only helped because the developer took the correct steps in approaching a problem. Not enough credit is being given to a the developer for genuine understanding and present minded business skills.
Maybe you're right that 'humans have a need to trial before they buy'. . .but that's just now how commerce works. Just because you have a need doesn't mean you have the /right/ take what isn't yours. You don't get to open a 2 liter of pepsi, or gallon of milk or apple, etc, etc, etc.
And you know damn well 99.9% of the pirates out there pirate and have no intention of buying it. Whether they liked the game or not.
But one does have a right to share one's own things with others. And that portion of "pirates" would not have bought that game anyways.
You know these apps are DRM'd and I would assume(I haven't checked), that in the TOS that you agree to when you create your account(like the one they just updated recently) that says you cant' 'share' this product, or this product is only able to be used on the device registered to this account. Dont think apple are fools
I hold the opinion that you would be more valuable dead rather than alive. Go jump off a cliff, why don't you?
Dont think apple are fools
It is exactly foolish when they create a TOS like that.
Also, no TOS dictates property rights. Here is a question for you: do you think that Apple "owns" the data on other people's computers, and thus has the "right" to dictate what other people do with this data?
Once again, proving that MAFIAA advocates have no brains. Why don't you just kill yourself now? Humanity would be better off without you. Fuck off and die.
its easy if you use a app commercially , pay for it , if you dont and what you did is a hobby for fun or play then free.
Take graphics design or auto cad , sure you can get a pirated copy of autocad but if they stamp the serial on your work and its pirated then whose stupid, this allows you to get familiar with the software so that if you do work you can then buy and use it properly, if you cant afford it work for someone else and save till you can afford or get invest ment into your own company to use autocad.
that's the only manner proprietary works.
Then there is open source……
I am Doug, and I think that the DRM and TOS are awesome and that to break either of them is a very serious crime – everyone who does so ought to go to prison for life or executed!
Just donated $7 and don't even own an iPhone. Love them guys! Pioneers and good people should be rewarded, I hope their donations explode! Who's with me??
Actually if you wante dto break into the market of both pepsi and coke you might be giving away free samples ot get people liking your drink, ive seen beer companies do it at bars, ive seen other products do that….its called marketing.
You give some samples away and let some measure of word of mouth to build a market.
oh and yah why should i be expected to pay for your product then and why should i buy your product …just cause you say things …oh we trust you
SONY ROOT KIT COMES TO MIND
well rose your right but also take diablo 2
i pirated it YES and guess what i liked it so much i went out and bought the boxset
with the expansion disk etc.
NOW i wasnt rich at that time so im very picky now you have to be very good and have some i can try caus ei cant afford to spend on everything hoping its a good game.
That's right! I am Four20 and all the data in the games, all of it, it is mine! Even if it is on your computer, and not on my computer, it is mine! I have all the rights to it, even if it is not on my computer! I have the right to impose what other people do with their own computers! And remember: none of it is yours! You have NO RIGHTS to it whatsoever even if you have bought it! Because I own the "rights" to it, I have the right to impose on other people what they can and can't do with their own copies because it isn't actually theirs, it is actually mine! Don't think about doing anything with it that I don't approve of, because if you do, the police will get ya! I have the total and complete right to impose my ideas of what is acceptable to do with the product. It doesn't matter what other people think is good for it, even if it is a better idea, because it is mine and mine only, and I decide what is to be done with it. Because it is mine and mine only and everyone else can just screw off.
They'll lose that power in, like, what, 50 years? We'll be very old or dead by then.
are you stupid?
Apple provides incredible amounts of innovative technology. Why down with Apple? Are you really so deep;y entrenched into your "PC Fandom" that you think Apple is the root of all evil?
Are you really so deeply entrenched into your "Apple Fandom" that you think Apple is innovating by wrapping mp3 players and mobile phones in shiny packaging and advertising to the hipster set?
Your an idiot! Can you donate money to me as well?
just pay the dollar help them out
got yourself a nifty iPhone and you wanna play whack a mole… not sure what's worse, the lame game or the lamer who'd play it?
Daniel donated because they are pioneers, and because they have been good people. Daniel is not an idiot.
The game itself may be good or bad, depending on people's opinions, but at least the creators did the right thing, and that's what's most important.
This article is so poorly put together and lays out such ridiculopus assumptions that I'm surprised even considering TF usual one-sided bias.
"Before Whack ‘em All was reported pirated, the game was getting around 10 sales each day. Now, with all the extra publicity, sales are up to 20 a day, a nice 100% increase."
Considering the application has been available for 1 whole month the reasons for that increase could be due to many things – the point is to attribute it to publicity has no reasonable basis. I'm certain I could find many other applications that have had similar increases without any piracy related publicity whatsoever. Considering the absolutley tiny numbers being dealt with here – from 10 to 20 per day – it's also stupid to think that meaningful conclusions can be drawn here from stats.
The title "How Piracy Can Boost iPhone Sales" is also misleading. If sales indeed increased it was not piracy that boosted sales here: it was publicity or simply the fact that people knew about the product. If the application is going to be read about on here by 500,000+ readers and then the article propagated through though Digg & SU then people know about it.
If piracy helps sales then please show another example where an IPhone application has been pirated and sales increased because of it – without the associated publicity.
well. i think this is a good thing. it shows how things should be done. the developers responded in the right way and did the right thing in the end. hopefully some of the major developers and entertainment industries can learn from this…
apple is innovating by providing a platform.
the iphone sucks, like everything apple (infrigment of the tm of the beatles btw) does, apple exists only to make m$ monopoly legal, although going to intel with zero excuse leads to intel monopoly…
Wow, you come across as really intelligent. Really, you've just nailed it with your poorly thought out ideas and catch-phrases such as "monopoly" and your references to trademarks that exist in your own imagination.
I wish I had a iphone, i would buy that game right now.
I hijacked my IPhone…….now it dont work no more…. :-(
Ghost, you must be pretty young, since you don't remember a few years back with the older handhelds with no wifi, such as all the gameboy's up to the advance. People had no trials but they bought games. Back in the day of original gameboy very few people used the internet and there were no review sites, so what did people do then?
They bought the game based off of the box. Now with the advent of the internet there are these things called 'review sites' which review almost every game that is worth anything. But I guess you pirates don't like to read and think about things before you do them.
In the case of this game, how many times did the pirated copy get downloaded? At least a few hundred, maybe even a few thousand. Seeing an increase of 10 sales on a 99 cent game is negligible, the app store fluctuates like that on a daily basis. If 1000 people pirated the game then 10 people bought it that is a 1% conversion ratio, which is quite crap for shareware. But the reality is probably more than 1000 people pirated it and under 10 of those people actually bought the game because of the pirated version.
Also, are the crackers going to take down the pirated version with no ads? Of course not, because they are full of shit.
this is so dumb pirating apps is WRONG! people spend a lot of time and money making apps and you try to steal them thats what your doing… its not the app store either… if the developers wanted to give you a free demo they can…. or full featured add supported app too… there are many lite and beta apps for free, apple has nothing to do with the price… but they don't charger developers for free apps… and developers can charge what they want for the apps so the prices aren't apples fault… besides the apps are cheaper then what there worth… compared to other platforms…. drm is pretty loose on apps… you just cant copy them… but apps are better then any other games for any platform…. you can have 1 game on multipule iphones and itouches all at the same time… lose your phone just re sync to your computer…. you guys are try to make stealing sound like a good thing this is wrong……
What's wrong is your abuse of ellipses.
i just posted a reply……. and i lied…. :-(
By the looks of it it's a single-player game that "phones home" with a "free" version which is adware. And most_uniQue did an incomplete job of unprotecting it, the spyware functions remained. If you can't remove those functions, at least change them to "phone home" more often and faster!
"After discovering the game had been cracked and made available for free download, they didn’t take the usual stance of setting the legal dogs on the culprits."
Spyware is also illegal in some countries.
Nice work enigmax at promoting adware and spyware!
I actually do read the reviews to make sure that a game is even worth downloading. And lately, I have been finding that a lot of games that seem all nice and pretty on the outside are actually shitty on the inside. I'm not finding this out from pirating the games but from the reviews. If I find a review for a game I might want to try, I download the game, try it out for a little while and eventually buy the game, usually from Steam because downloading a game is so much more convenient than buying a box. I know that I'm definitely not the only one who does this and I don't even have a bandwidth cap on my connection, which would be a major reason for people to do that.
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