Redlynx says pirated version doesn’t include all features, and hopes users of the bootleg version would want to pay for full, legitimate copy after trying it.
Redlynx, a multiplatform game developer based in Helsinki, Finland. RedLynx, has admitted to uploading scaled down versions of Trials for the PC to a number of BitTorrent tracker sites.
CEO Tero Virtala says the copies are scaled down versions of the game that lack its “soul,” in this case support for leaderboards, a crucial game element. He hopes that users of the bootleg version will want to purchase a full, legitimate copy after trying it.
“Piracy is here, so how can we take advantage of that? What we did actually, on day one, we put that game immediately on all the torrent networks ourselves,” said Virtala, during a recent panel discussion at Develop Liverpool, according to Game Industry.
“That game relies really heavily on the server side – the leaderboards are the soul of the game. I don’t know if it’s helped, I’d assume so because even though the version that we put on the torrent networks wasn’t the full version, it’s the version of the game without the actual soul, without the leaderboards to play against other players.”
It’s an interesting move by Redlynx, and should serve as a lesson to others trying to figure out how to compete with file-sharing networks. P2P is here to stay, and so content creators need to figure out how to maximize the exposure it can generate for their work while simultaneously creating a revenue stream. Redlynx seems to have developed a perfect middle path.
Developer Torsten Reil of NaturalMotion, on the other hand, seemed to have an alternative viewpoint, that being the hope for a change in society’s perception of piracy in order to protect his company’s revenue stream.
“There is in general a feeling that IP and content should be free,” he said. “That’s fine to say, but if you have to pay all the people that actually put their heart and soul into a game – who have to pay a mortgage off and have children – it becomes much more difficult. Yes, you can limit [piracy] with technical tricks, but there needs to be an overall change in the perception of IP and the people who create it.”
The perception, and thanks in large part to entertainment industry stakeholders like the RIAA who failed to embrace digital distribution from the get go, has long been that content is and should be free.
Being that an individual file-sharer can only pay for so many things he illegally downloads, remuneration is now reserved for only those works that he absolutely enjoys and wants to see more of.
That doesn’t require a “change in the perception of IP and the people who create it,” but rather a motivation to make the best product possible and to connect with users.
Stay tuned.
jared@zeropaid.com
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Oh my! Another company that does not have it’s head up it’s ass! No crying, hand-wringing, greasing palms of movers and shakers, and dreams of waging war and conquering nations and individuals. Merely a sane, level-headed assessment of the way things are, and a willingness to embrace and indulge in existing conditions to meet the needs of all concerned.
As the Scottish football play-by-play commentator says when a player scores a particularly wonderful goal…
“Brilliant!”