Pirates Play Game Development Simulator - Go Bankrupt Due To Piracy

[Stylo]

Guys, I want to know what you think of ---> THIS

When we released our very first game, Game Dev Tycoon (for Mac, Windows and Linux) yesterday, we did something unusual and as far as I know unique. We released a cracked version of the game ourselves, minutes after opening our Store.

The cracked version is nearly identical to the real thing except for one detail… Initially we thought about telling them their copy is an illegal copy, but instead we didn’t want to pass up the unique opportunity of holding a mirror in front of them and showing them what piracy can do to game developers. So, as players spend a few hours playing and growing their own game dev company, they will start to see the following message, styled like any other in-game message:

"Boss, it seems that while many players play our new game, they steal it by downloading a cracked version rather than buying it legally. If players don’t buy the games they like, we will sooner or later go bankrupt."

Slowly their in-game funds dwindle, and new games they create have a high chance to be pirated until their virtual game development company goes bankrupt.

Actually considering playing the demo now and if I like it, buying it. $7.99 or £5.15 of my English Gold is pretty much nothing.

Gonna check it out. Cool marketing strategy. Also, looks like a nice little game.

 

[Krynn72]

I had a similar idea myself awhile ago, releasing a fake "cracked" copy of the game right before release. Only instead of a message like this, with some gameplay effect, it would randomly during the game go to a black screen and have a crude 3D pirate come up on the screen singing a pirate song and dancing with his overlong penis flopping about.

But I don't know how I feel about this one, its not even funny. And its hyperbolic.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Great idea, really exposes the lack of self-reflection some people have about this sort of thing. I honestly think a lot of people just straight up don't give a shit about swiping smaller indie games because of the illusion of value created by the large marketing campaigns and polished image larger games have. This is probably the same sort of attitude that causes people to bitch about a $20-30 price point for indie games regardless of quality or content, because they don't "look" worth it. Not to say they always are worth it, just that it seems like a foregone conclusion to some.

Anyway, I saw this a few days ago and tried out the demo, liked it enough to chuck them $8 for the game. Played for a good few hours but gave up on it before finishing because I don't feel like it was ultimately a very balanced or fun game later on. They encourage experimentation and trial and error to figure out how to produce a successful game in different genre/topic combinations, but you never get enough substantive feedback to figure out how you can change your approach for the better, so it just turns into a guessing game of trying to figure out what the developers think constitutes a good sci-fi/acton or music/casual or whatever. Certain genres are definitely easier than others, I had a bunch of top-rated RPGs and adventure games because it's pretty plain that you're meant to emphasize story/dialog/world design, but then you get into cross-genre games and it just becomes utterly cryptic. How do you strike a good balance between story and gameplay for an action/RPG? Beats me, guess I'll have to sink millions into trying a bunch of different combinations, or just reload my save over and over until I crack it, neither or which appeals to me in the slightest. Of course, it's much easier to stick to tried and true formulas or just pump out sequels because they generate their own hype right out of the gate and tend to sell very well, but that's just boring. I mean, yes, it's pretty accurate to the real thing and could be a nice little commentary about the games industry, but it doesn't make a very fun game.

Also, it was originally a tablet/phone game, and it really shows through in the limited interface. It's pretty good for what it is, but it could have been so much better as a more in-depth PC management game with actual menus and shit, instead of this "click anywhere to open your options then swipe through them" approach. But then I guess I can't fault them too hard for that, considering how many people are actually buying their shit. :v

Disregarding all of the above, I'd really encourage anyone to try out the demo if the concept appeals to you at all. It was quite a lot of fun until I hit a brick wall with it, and it's entirely possible that I'm just a quitter.