While most companies are in the business of combating software piracy these days, RedLynx CEO Tero Virtala admitted that his company leaked a version of the PC motorcycle game Trials 2 on the same day that the game was commercially available.

However, the 'leaked' version did not include the online leaderboards which they believe is key to the title... so the plan was to get people hooked on the game, and then buy the full version with leaderboards included.

To quote: "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," revealed Virtala, during a panel discussion at Develop Liverpool yesterday.

"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."


RedLynx CEO Admits Leaking Trials 2 PC Game to Torrents

Posted 11 days ago      8 Comments      PermaLink


Comments

#1
By CyanCaze on 2 weeks ago:
I'm sorry but the term "Pay to play" should apply to all games. Developers work hard to make games and then people steal them, that's bull.

#2
By semitope on 2 weeks ago:
I'd never go with a legit pay-to-play system even if I liked the game so that fails hard. All that would happen is that games I'd buy would end up getting nothing.

This is a good option and smart move IMO. This way they stand a chance of getting those who would pirate the game and not buy it otherwise hooked. I can tell you right now I have no intention of buying trials 2 but if I saw it on a torrent site I might actually download it and if I liked it and thought I could get more by paying for it then I might. Thats better than nothing in my book. I downloaded the first, played it once and haven't played it since. Should I have paid for it?

Also I dont want to think developers are so down on ppl playing their games without paying. Its a really interesting dilemma this. Technically you don't lose anything physically by someone not buying your game.

Your hope is to convince them to buy it but should you be angry if they refuse to give you their money? Do you have a place assuming they would in fact give you their money if they could not use the service otherwise?

#3
By tilla on 2 weeks ago:
Piracy is a fact of life and has been for a good 10 years now. It's nice to see developers embracing this to their best advantage instead of stamping their feat and putting in DRM that hurts the legitimate users more often than the pirates.

I certainly would not know what this game was without them putting it up on a torrent site, so I think certainly in this case it was a good move for promotional purposes. Alongside some of the great stuff being done for free like Dwarf Fortress, your comments of 'all games should be pay to play' kinda falls flat on it's face.

#4
By adrianc1982 on 2 weeks ago:
Quote:
Originally Posted by semitope View Post
I'd never go with a legit pay-to-play system even if I liked the game so that fails hard. All that would happen is that games I'd buy would end up getting nothing.

This is a good option and smart move IMO. This way they stand a chance of getting those who would pirate the game and not buy it otherwise hooked. I can tell you right now I have no intention of buying trials 2 but if I saw it on a torrent site I might actually download it and if I liked it and thought I could get more by paying for it then I might. Thats better than nothing in my book. I downloaded the first, played it once and haven't played it since. Should I have paid for it?

Also I dont want to think developers are so down on ppl playing their games without paying. Its a really interesting dilemma this. Technically you don't lose anything physically by someone not buying your game.

Your hope is to convince them to buy it but should you be angry if they refuse to give you their money? Do you have a place assuming they would in fact give you their money if they could not use the service otherwise?
I have downloaded games in the past when I was younger I must admit and played a lot of games. The interesting part is now I have the money to pay for the games I like and Ive been buying a lot of sequels or games made by the same company I used to like. For example I didnt pay for metal gear 1, 2 or 3 but I paid full price 60$ plus tax to play metal gear solid 4. Would I have paid to play a game thats on its fourth installment and relies heavily on story telling to enjoy if it wasnt due to piracy? Interesting right?

How about same concept on a major scale, I play games in my teens and loved them up until now. Nowadays Im buying all sorts of games because I got hooked up with gaming in general and Im pouring money into the gaming industry. Lets face it there are people that are not interested in gaming and thats because they never got hooked up, so they "lost" money or didnt make money with me then but are now making money.

The excuse that I only played it once doesnt make sense TODAY because we have demos for free on the psn for most of the games, not all, but most, so you get a glimpse of the game itself. But what would microsoft be today without piracy, everyone I knew or know runs a pirated copy of windows but people keep buying stuff from microsoft now and then, we are stock we come out once in a while and give them money.

You have a big user base using your os maybe that guy wont give you money for its pirate copy at home but will push his boss to buy a license for windows and office to work. Again piracy is powerful, not justifiable but I believe it makes things popular and opens a window of oportunity.

#5
By walidahmadi on 2 weeks ago:
@ adrianc1982
I agree with you, and +rep.

Only time will tell whether this move materializes anything, at least it is better promotion for the devs than having no one playing it. This way they will certainly get some people onboard to play it.

The other thing is that piracy will never go away. It will stay here. It is better to get along with it and use it to its full potential.

#6
By banksc on 2 weeks ago:
The whole piracy issue is so old... unfortunate, though, it is far from over. I am still amazed by how many people can justify it while keeping a straight face. Yes, people do things that they aren't supposed too (look at our prison system), but to say that it should be ok is an insult to anyone's intelligence. Garbage about wanting to try something out before purchasing is just that, garbage.

There are a lot of things in life that people don't get to try before purchasing, why are video games, or music, any different? I don't think telling a judge that you shouldn't be convicted of murder because 'you wanted to try it out, first, and you didn't like it, so you are never going to do it again' is going to get you very far...

I am not saying I haven't acquired something illegally, but I will pay the price, if caught, not try to cry 'DRM Mumbojumbo'.

#7
By semitope on 2 weeks ago:
Video games, music, movies, software are different because they have no physical form and can be duplicated without harm to the person who thinks they should be paid for it. Comparing piracy to murder is... garbage and the argument warrants no consideration at all.

Of course it should not be OK but you have to make intelligent attempts at stopping it while keeping in mind the possible benefits. Its not about wanting to try it out, its about ending up trying something you would otherwise not get a chance to. Lots of games come with no demo and as far as I am concerned Demos are useless rubbish. No way I'd make a purchase based on the tiny experience they usually offer.

I wonder what would happen If I walked over to someones house and used a duplicator (not real :shhh:) to reproduce their car right in front of them and then tried to take that duplicate. Wonder if they would lay claim to it and accuse me of theft

#8
By imec on 1 week ago:
Quote:
Originally Posted by semitope View Post

I wonder what would happen If I walked over to someones house and used a duplicator (not real :shhh:) to reproduce their car right in front of them and then tried to take that duplicate. Wonder if they would lay claim to it and accuse me of theft
What if you were a measly car salesman and a potential customer has been stopping by your dealership for the past ten years looking at a particularly unpopular car that he wants to buy? What if he magically took the car and reproduced it right in front of your eyes? How are you supposed to sell this very unpopular car that you were planning to sell to a potential buyer when he no longer needs it? How can you know that he was even going to buy it in the first place?



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