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独立开发者不妨欣然接受游戏盗版现象?

发布时间:2012-10-29 11:33:53 Tags:,,

作者:Eric Caoili

Jonatan Soderstrom是最近一位表示接受盗版现象的独立游戏开发者,他甚至以自己的方式提供技术支持,帮助人们免费下载《迈阿密热线》。

Soderstrom加入了承认自己无法停止PC游戏盗版现象的小型独立开发者行列,这一群体均表示自己已经到能够接受这一行为,并找到了充分利用这一现象的方法。

hotline-miami(from pc.gamespy.com)

hotline-miami(from pc.gamespy.com)

Soderstrom发布Twitter表示:“其实,我并不希望人们盗版《迈阿密热线》,但我能够理解他们的做法。”他补充称自己了解被盗版的心情,“当然,无论玩家以何种方式获取游戏,我都希望他们可以享受到整个游戏体验。”

《迈阿密热线》破解版出现在热门BT下载网站海盗湾之后,某个评论抱怨游戏中存在漏洞,对此Doderstrom回复道——他不仅会针对游戏中的某些问题提出解决方案,同时他将提供修复补丁,更新该游戏的页面。

最近,当《McPixel》开发者Sos Sosowski发现自己的游戏出现在海盗湾网站上时,他并未要求网站删除torrent链接。相反,他感谢那些因兴趣而盗版他的游戏的人,并在随后的评论中发布了下载免费版本的代码。

他的慷慨之举立刻引起Reddit用户的关注,而围绕该作的热议使得海盗湾管理员决定以按需付费方式在网站上帮助推广《McPixel》(游戏邦注:这是海盗湾游戏的首例现象)。Sosowski签订了这一协议,并在推广时期售出上千份的《McPixel》,最终,由于粉丝们的大力支持,该游戏登上了Steam的Greenlight平台。

《Under the Ocean》的开发者除了在该作于4月回归之时制定了付费版本,甚至提供了有趣的“Annoying Cockroach Edition”。而随此版本附加的文本则承认游戏已遭盗版,但他打算让盗版者为这一行为忏悔。最初,他设置了链接到海盗湾的网址,但不久之后就被删掉。

Paul Greasley解释道:“制作Cockroach版本并不是为了减少盗版现象。这只是因为独立开发者无法找到诉诸对象。目前,已有超过90%的人正盘算着盗版PC游戏(根据流量记录可以判断我们的游戏也难免此劫)。我们认为这是一个有趣的现象,坦白讲,我们只是要指出这一情况!”

鉴于《McPixel》和《迈阿密热线》的开发者因接受盗版现象而登陆Reddit首页并受到热议的事实,目前该独立开发团队希望能够通过经常发行更新版本以此转变盗版现象。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Some indies don’t fight piracy, they embrace it

by  Eric Caoili

Jonatan Soderstrom is the latest indie developer who’s accepted that people will pirate his game, and has even gone out of his way to provide technical support to people downloading Hotline Miami without paying.

He joins a small but growing list of independent developers who have acknowledged that there’s little they can do to stop people from stealing their PC games; instead they have found ways to embrace those pirates and make the best out of the situation.

“I don’t really want people to pirate Hotline Miami, but I understand if they do,” Soderstrom posted on Twitter, adding that he knows what it feels like to be broke. “I definitely want people to experience the game the way it’s meant to be experienced. No matter how they got a hold of it.”

After finding a cracked copy of Hotline Miami posted on popular torrent site The Pirate Bay, Soderstrom addressed commentors who complained about bugs in the game — he not only offered advice for some issues, but also promised a patch and asked that the page be updated once it’s released.

When McPixel developer Sos Sosowski found his game on The Pirate Bay recently, he also chose not to ask the site to take down the torrent. He instead thanked the people stealing his game for their interest, and offered free download codes in the comments.

His goodwill caught the attention of people on Reddit, and the buzz around his game led to The Pirate Bay’s administrators offering to promote McPixel with a pay-what-you-want deal on their site — a first for any game. Sosowski signed off on the idea, McPixel sold thousands of copies, and the game was eventually accepted by Steam’s Greenlight platform, likely with help from the many fans he’s won in the last couple of months.

The developers behind another indie title, Under the Ocean went so far as to offer a humorous “Annoying Cockroach Edition” alongside paid versions for their game back in April. This edition’s accompanying text acknowledged that pirates were sure to steal the game, but sought to make those people feel guilty for doing so. There was even a link to The Pirate Bay initially, though that was taken down later.

“The Cockroach edition was actually not an attempt to cut down on piracy,” artist Paul Greasley explained to Gamasutra. “It was just one of the liberties of being an indie developer, with nobody to answer to. The elephant in the room is that 90-plus percent of people are going to pirate your game on the PC (and ours is no exception, based on the traffic logs). We just thought it would be fun, and frankly honest, to point that out!”

As with McPixel, Under the Ocean’s developers picked up a lot of buzz and a front-page post on Reddit for their acceptance of piracy. The team hopes to convert pirates now by releasing frequent updates that are more convenient to install with purchased copies. (source:gamasutra)


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