"Unbelievably High" Android Piracy Drives Dev to Free-To-Play

[Shadowsetzer]

Even a s***** game can give you more value than, say, a candy bar from a gas station convenience store. Are you saying that it's alright to steal candy bars (or anything else) if you feel they're overcharging for it?

Don't make me pull the "Pirating is copying, not stealing card." and I don't know about you but I get great satisfaction from candy bars.

Except that when you buy a game (or any piece of software), you're not simply buying a copy of the program; you're buying the right to use that program. When someone makes a copy of it and uses it without buying it, they're stealing it in the same way that someone who takes something off of a store shelf and walks off with it is stealing it - they're using it when they don't have the right to.

 

[Arkley]

For once, a developer blaming piracy is actually right, rather than reaching for excuses. I've owned a couple of Android devices and when I upgrade/change my phone, I always simply move the .apk and data files over to the new model via USB. The problem is, this can be done for any phone, any time, whether you're using the same Google Play account or not. Go to any of the dozens of Android-centric sites, any warez or torrent site, and you can download a game, pop it on your phone, install it and play, simple as that. There's no need to route/jailbreak the devices and it's virtually risk free, and piracy is rampant as a result.

It casts new light on the "DRM doesn't work" argument, really. Don't get me wrong, I oppose intrusive and restrictive DRM as much as the next guy, but saying it doesn't work at all is demonstrably wrong. You only need look at the sales figures for the Play Store vs the App Store. There are a lot more Android devices in the hands of consumers than there are iPhones, and yet the App Store outsells the Play Store handily. Why? Well, because it's more difficult to pirate things on the iPhone. Sure, to anyone with an ounce of tech knowledge, it's no big deal to jailbreak and pirate away, but a lot of people would choose to pay when face with having to go through the jailbreaking process. For Android, though, pirating is almost as easy as actually buying something.

Of course, this doesn't excuse monstrosities like SecuRom and Diablo III, but it does explain why publishers keep doing that shit. Making it just a little bit harder for the average joe to rip you off really does pay off. A damn shame the people actually buying the game have to suffer for it.

 

[Albino Boo]

I don't have any experience with buying games for Android but I wager it's more complicated and annoying than just downloading them illegally. Otherwise the piracy rates wouldn't be so damn high.

You have to press 2 buttons, its far less work than stealing it. It takes longer to buy something on steam .

 

[Ukomba]

Even a s***** game can give you more value than, say, a candy bar from a gas station convenience store. Are you saying that it's alright to steal candy bars (or anything else) if you feel they're overcharging for it?

Don't make me pull the "Pirating is copying, not stealing card." and I don't know about you but I get great satisfaction from candy bars.

Taking advantage of some one else labor, with out paying for it isn't stealing?

That's right, justify away, it makes crime so much easier if you believe you're not doing anything wrong.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Someone mentioned this in the Facebook comments, and they were right: we used to have a thing called shareware, and it was wonderful. Then Shareware went away, along with demos and the concept of "try before you buy" in general. What we see here is a company learning the hard way that the demand for the shareware model never went away. Besides, shareware is alive and well on the google play store, where nearly everything has a demo of some sort.

By the way, $1 for an app isn't much. $1 for an app, sight unseen, when nearly everything else on the store has some sort of free demo? That's ridiculous. I know I wouldn't pay for anything like that, it comes across as a developer trying to make a quick buck off of a product he knows people won't buy if they get a chance to try it first.

 

[newdarkcloud]

I'm not going to defend pirates here. If you can't spend $1, then maybe you shouldn't play the game.

But I will say that if piracy is this prevalent on Android, perhaps Google should look into making spending money more convenient, like Steam does. (Assuming that Android's interface is bad, which it may not be.)

And a demo does help.

 

[McMullen]

Pirating a $1 game is shameful. It costs more to run a load of clothes in a laundromat washer. There's no excuse.

The only justification that comes close to making an android pirate not look like a complete scumbag is if the purchase process is ridiculously complicated, which it could be, but I don't know because I don't have one.

Still, just buy the goddamn game, or people will stop making them eventually.

Jerks.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

By the way, $1 for an app isn't much. $1 for an app, sight unseen, when nearly everything else on the store has some sort of free demo? That's ridiculous. I know I wouldn't pay for anything like that, it comes across as a developer trying to make a quick buck off of a product he knows people won't buy if they get a chance to try it first.

Let me put it this way: Have you ever bought a candy/drink/snack that you've never tried before? If yes, then I completely fail to see the problem with spending the same amount or even less on an App you might not know if you like

And let me put it this way: all the other apps on the store have a demo, if not a completely free or ad supported version. If that one doesn't, I'm avoiding it like the plague.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

By the way, $1 for an app isn't much. $1 for an app, sight unseen, when nearly everything else on the store has some sort of free demo? That's ridiculous. I know I wouldn't pay for anything like that, it comes across as a developer trying to make a quick buck off of a product he knows people won't buy if they get a chance to try it first.

Let me put it this way: Have you ever bought a candy/drink/snack that you've never tried before? If yes, then I completely fail to see the problem with spending the same amount or even less on an App you might not know if you like

And let me put it this way: all the other apps on the store have a demo, if not a completely free or ad supported version. If that one doesn't, I'm avoiding it like the plague.

You know what you do? Don't download it.
You know what you DON'T do? You don't pirate it!

I don't. There's too much awesome free stuff on the google play store for me to bother. But you know what? I have no sympathy for the dev. They made a bad choice by not offering a demo in the first place, and they made a good one by correctly reading the market signs and making a freakin' demo. If only the massive publishers were that good at economics 101...

 

[J. Mazarin]

By the way, $1 for an app isn't much. $1 for an app, sight unseen, when nearly everything else on the store has some sort of free demo? That's ridiculous. I know I wouldn't pay for anything like that, it comes across as a developer trying to make a quick buck off of a product he knows people won't buy if they get a chance to try it first.

Let me put it this way: Have you ever bought a candy/drink/snack that you've never tried before? If yes, then I completely fail to see the problem with spending the same amount or even less on an App you might not know if you like

And let me put it this way: all the other apps on the store have a demo, if not a completely free or ad supported version. If that one doesn't, I'm avoiding it like the plague.

And that's fine, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd be mad at you for avoiding it for that reason(save for perhaps a few too-obsessive fanboys/fangirls).

It's when people use that as an excuse to say "fuck you" to the developer and download it without paying for it that people are going to (rightfully) call them pricks.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

By the way, $1 for an app isn't much. $1 for an app, sight unseen, when nearly everything else on the store has some sort of free demo? That's ridiculous. I know I wouldn't pay for anything like that, it comes across as a developer trying to make a quick buck off of a product he knows people won't buy if they get a chance to try it first.

Let me put it this way: Have you ever bought a candy/drink/snack that you've never tried before? If yes, then I completely fail to see the problem with spending the same amount or even less on an App you might not know if you like

And let me put it this way: all the other apps on the store have a demo, if not a completely free or ad supported version. If that one doesn't, I'm avoiding it like the plague.

And that's fine, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd be mad at you for avoiding it for that reason(save for perhaps a few too-obsessive fanboys/fangirls).

It's when people use that as an excuse to say "fuck you" to the developer and download it without paying for it that people are going to (rightfully) call them pricks.

The way I see it, there's two ways to deal with piracy: complain about it, create DRM, and fight it in the courts, all the while making no money off the pirates -- who, while not customers under your current business model, are a potential source of revenue -- or try to out-compete it with things like demos and ad supported versions of your product. This dev learned the hard way that the first method doesn't work, and is now trying the other way.

 

[Baldr]

There are reviews and pictures of the game on every purchase place. There is no need for a demo all the time. People wanting demos are freeloaders wanting free shit. I'm sorry but developer work really hard on their games. Giving it out free is a slap in the face.

 

[lacktheknack]

Don't you just love it when the times change and business is forced to innovate?

Not when those times involve twats saying "I can't afford one dollar".

At least they adapted.

 

[Bigeyez]

I don't have any experience with buying games for Android but I wager it's more complicated and annoying than just downloading them illegally. Otherwise the piracy rates wouldn't be so damn high.

It's really not... When you get a brand new android phone here is the entire process you have to go through to download an app for the first time.

Step 1. Turn on Phone.
Step 2. Create a google account or if you have one (which if you have gmail you do) log in.
Step 3. Open the Google play Store
Step 4. Click an app
Step 5. Hit download
Step 6. Select either bill monthly phone bill or input credit/debit card (card is saved for future puchases) and confirm download.

Thats it.

...There really is just no excuse for piracy of a 99 cent game.... (I'm not saying you are trying to excuse it just going on my own rant here) People do it because they can and what really sucks is that they hurt more the small devs like these guys then the big devs that will still make millions regardless of pirates. Piracy hurts the little guy the most.

 

[Bigeyez]

Don't you just love it when the times change and business is forced to innovate?

No, because fuck those lazy, cheap-ass pirates who feel that ONE FUCKING DOLLAR is too much to pay for a game.

Usually means the game wasn't worth buying for the price they were asking, if your game is one dollar, that's saying a lot.

Angry Birds is free so by your logic the game sucks. Price does not equal quality.

 

[DevilWithaHalo]

Economics 101? Indeed, it may have taken more time to find the illegal download it and install it then it would have to simply purchase the legitimate copy; which will upgrade automatically with each new version released. Whereas the illegal copy will require you to do it all over again if you wish to continue playing it.

Perhaps if Pirates weren't so idiotic, they could realize their time is better spent being productive, making enough money to purchase a $1 game and maybe some nice pants. But no, they will simply support an unsustainable model of starving creative endeavors through selfishness.

It's 99cents. How do you have a smart phone without being able to afford NINETY NINE CENTS??!!

Here's a thought you Developers out there; draft a code which tracks the phone numbers of those attaching to your servers. Scan through the list for legitimate purchases. Create a website dedicated to exposing cheap assholes who want to enjoy the content of a 99c game without paying for it. Post their phone numbers on the website. Let the world harass them.

 

[Evil Smurf]

one dollar guys. we can all afford that.