We are all Pirates

                No Offense.

As I have been working on my next game, Spectrum Soldier, I have been confronted with the upcoming pricing issue of the game.  Do I make it free?  Do I make it the classic indie $5?  Should I have in game purchases?  What do I do about piracy?  Can I lock my game down without generating ill will?  This all got me thinking.  Here are my musings on the rampant piracy within pc gaming.  Maybe after all this, piracy wont seem like such a huge deal.

Everybody pirates, even if they don’t realize it.  Have you ever watched SNL on YouTube, or any other TV show before it was “Removed at the request of company X?”  I certainly have.  Pirate.  My family was adamant that they had never and would never indulge in piracy, until they found out that a Mix CD that a friend had burned us was, in fact, piracy.  My high school took a strong anti-piracy stance, and then they were contacted by the University of Iowa for pirating the Hawkeye image, and using it as our own logo.  Piracy is now ubiquitous, it shows up anywhere and everywhere.  Do you specifically pirate TV, music, or images?  Maybe not, but you pirate something, rest assured.
                This isn’t a bad thing, though.  SNL picked up on the fact that people wanted streaming content, and have now made a great online presence.  They even have assets like The Lonely Island cranking out online content.  One Beatles song on our mix CD prompted my family to buy the whole Beatles Anthology.  That is one sale that wouldn’t have existed without piracy.  When my high school used the Hawkeye logo as our own, it was a simple task to purchase memorabilia with our logo on it.  We actually increased the area of sales for Hawkeye merchandise to include somewhere in an entirely different state. 
                Though piracy was involved in all of these scenarios, no one was hurt, sales were not lost, and  it actually was a Boon to those involved.  New content was born, Sales were generated, and target audience for merchandise was expanded.  Why can’t games seem to cash in on piracy like this?  Especially in the indie scene, there seems to be an extremely venomous view of piracy.  “You aren’t stealing from the big faceless corporation this time, you are stealing from X developer.”  I don’t think it is stealing at all.  I think it is free advertising.  Even as an indie developer, you just have to plan ahead to utilize a free player base which is much larger/different than your paying player base.
                The Dated Solution:  The Demo
                Let everyone have a taste of the game.  Give them the first level or two, or lock out some of their powers, so they are gnashing at the bit for more.  Cut them off at a good point in the plot to make them want to run out and purchase!  If they didn’t like the game, there is no pressure to continue playing, and no harm is done.  This is an amount of the game that the developers feel comfortable giving away for free.  They don’t want to give away too much.
                This is something from the strong physical retail days.  I too used to actually go to GameStop, buy a demo disk for cheap and then come back having made a decision of what I wanted to purchase.  The easiest way for me to get a game was to go to the store and purchase it.  This convenience guided my use of the retail demo system.  Now, it is a heck of a lot easier for me to click a few buttons and wind up with any illegitimate game I want.  I play the actual game instead of a demo, but then there is no push to run out to a store to fully purchase.  I am already playing the game, so I finish up with it, regardless of purchase.
                Some games have tried to move this demo system online.  Oftentimes there are many hoops to jump through though.   I have to sign up for a forum account, verify my email, pass a captcha test, set my profile settings, and occasionally even give my credit card info, so if I don’t forget to cancel my “demo” then I will get charged automatically.  In that time I could have easily pirated most games no problem at all.  This is a step in the right direction, but ease of use really leans me one direction.
                The Current Solution:  Freemium
                The latest craze to sweep games is “Freemium.”  You convert those non-paying players into “paying” ones by inserting in game ads that may generate click throughs.  Maybe you lock out pieces of purchase-able content which entices the customers to break out their credit card.  You give away most or all of the game, and you get money from your players.  If they want the rest of the game, they are forced to play.  If they player sees an ad, revenue is generated either way as long as the game is being played.
                This system has been tried and works quite well on a mobile market, where people are scared of initial investment.  They try the games, and in order to speed up game play, increase effectiveness, or extend game time, they purchase.  There are tons of examples of this method working well with inn app purchases and advertisements both in the mobile and social markets.  You really cannot “pirate” this style of game effectively, because when you pirate and play the game, you create revenue anyways.
                The issue with this system is not so much a revenue issue as it is a relationship issue with your customers.  Oftentimes, there is a feeling of exploitation that goes alongside this extraction of revenue.  Either the player is forced to interrupt their game play to pay you, or their game play is hampered in the long term  by screen real estate being shared with ads.  This creates frustration in the player base, which will cause eventual loss of retention.  Even if you can monetize the pirates, you cannot extract revenue when they don’t play the game.
               The Future:  Conversion
                The real “El Dorado” of game revenue is, in my mind, not to get players to pay you.  The real overall goal is to get them to *want* to pay you.  To make them so enthralled in the game that they will pay you just to see the next great thing you are going to think up.  It like the old sitcom girlfriend argument goes, “I don’t want you to do the dishes, I want you to want to do the dishes.”  I don’t want the money, I want players to want to give me money.  If the game is good enough, and you come through for them, they’ll come through for you.  This can be done in a couple of different ways, each of which can be seen in our current generation of games. 
                Firstly, you can give the game away for free.  Give the option to donate on your website, but don’t require it from anyone.  Once a player finds your game enthralling, they will come back and give you something.  This can be accentuated by other factors, maybe you have to visit said website every time you want to update your client.  Maybe the donate button is in your loading screen, but nowhere in the game.  This donation method is how <Dwarf Fortress’s guy> makes his living now.  He works on Dwarf Fortress every day, creating new content for his players, and they stay loyal for it.  The game itself is free, but he has built up enough of a following that he makes his living off of donations to his cause.
                Alternatively, you can integrate purchases into your game, which do not affect game play at all/significantly.  A Number of online games have added this service recently, or were built around it.  In World of Warcraft, players can now get a Haircut, and alter their character’s appearance to their liking.  City of Heroes and Champions online allow you to purchase additional costumes for your characters, for a nominal fee.  League of legends allows you to permanently unlock what would otherwise be temporary content.  All of these options do not give you a distinct advantage in the game itself, but they  allow the player to have a more personal experience with the game, creating a deeper connection between game and community.  You play the game for free, even as a pirate, and are drawn to pay money, to make your game just a little bit better.
So Use Us Pirates!
                We pirate.  Everyone does.  It's time to stop being sore about it, and start using it.  You can convert pirates into revenue forcefully, or you can coax them in to dropping their piracy habits.  We have seen the Amazon 1-bombing and boycotting of games like Spore when they implemented heavy DRM, and we have seen the incredible success of the Humble Indie Bundle when they didn’t require you to pay more than a penny.  We are all pirates, use us!

Usually, you cannot stop piracy within your game.  It is going to happen regardless.  Since piracy is an inevitability, whether good or bad, it should be investigated.  Not as a subject apart from games, as it often is, but within the game itself.  Piracy should be viewed as another constraint existing within our real world and within the game.  We should learn from related topics.  You can turn piracy into profit.  If people pirate your game because they dont want to be bothered to log in to an online service every time they use your software, REMOVE THAT!  Gain a sale when that person realizes you noticed their complaint.  If they did it to be able to add their own mods on your game, make new DLC so they can use your official tools to make mods!

My group, Serverus Games is working on a new game called Spectrum Soldier.  We have decided to have a "Pirate This Game" button in our installer, when it would ask for a serial key.  We dont hate our customers for pirating the game.  Especially in the indie scene, games are hit and miss.  They should try our game, and not some cut down demo to entice them into buying the real thing.  Not some pirate cracked version possibly full of viruses.  We love our customers, and want them to play a game we have poured our heart and soul into, whether they pay or not.  There will be no penalty to our "Pirate this Game" button.  It will install like you had validated successfully.  You will have access to all levels, and you will still have all abilities.  Our game is good.  Once you play it, you will see for yourself.  Hopefully, you'll come back, and give what you can, so we can make the next one.
 
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