Piracy definitely affects all media businesses these days, through the illegal distribution of music, movies and video games. Many companies see piracy of media costing millions of dollars a year in lost revenue. However, 11-Bit Studios has found an interesting solution when it came to the piracy problems surrounding its latest PC game release, This War of Mine, according to Polygon.
Following the posting of the game over on The Pirate Bay website, the developer provided a response in the site’s forums – but not nearly as hostile as you might think.
The respond reads as follows:
“It’s Karol from 11 bit studios, the developers of This War of Mine. We are really happy to hear that you like our game. They prove, that spending 2 years on it was worth it. I would like to say thank you to everyone, who decides to buy the game and support us — because of that we’ll be able to develop TWoM further and create even better games in the future. If because of some reasons you can’t buy the game, it’s ok. We know life, and we know, that sometimes it’s just not possible.
“Here are some codes for the Steam copy of the game, so some of you can take a look at it. And if you like the game after spending few hours in, then just spread the word, and you’ll help us a lot.”
With that response, ten Steam keys for the game were dropped in the comments, which were no doubt immediately snapped up.
As to why the company made such a move, 11 bit’s Pawel Miechowski explained to Polygon, “It’s just that not all pirates are the same. Of course there are people that would pirate the game even if it would cost 10 cents, but you can do nothing about them.
“What many of us often forget though, is that there are also other people. Folks that are doing that, because they are simply pissed about the current quality of many games, or those who simply can’t afford the game at the time, because of some personal reasons,” he stated. “That’s why we believe that instead of treating everyone the same way, where pirates are the most evil people on Earth, it’s better to talk and try to find a solution, where everyone somehow benefits.”
As a result, the post has gotten positive feedback on the site, with many fans promising to spread word around about its quality – which will no doubt pay off for the developer. “You can’t buy the game, but you would like to support us Tell your friends, and who knows, maybe one of them will pay for it and that would give us few bucks,” said Miechowski. “Pretty well known Polish indie developer Sos did something similar some time ago, and just like in our case it proved, that it always pays back if you try to understand people, instead of condemning everyone.”
So, indeed, killing them with kindness could be the best move…even if not everyone is fond of it.
Those interested in This War of Mine can download it here on Steam for $19.99. We’ve included the trailer for the game below.
