Comments on: Indie Game Piracy; Consequences and Recourse http://www.diygamer.com/2009/10/indie-game-piracy-consequences-recourse/ Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:02:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Edy Kajang http://www.diygamer.com/2009/10/indie-game-piracy-consequences-recourse/comment-page-1/#comment-166 Edy Kajang Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:41:48 +0000 http://diygamer.com/?p=1130#comment-166 You have a lot of good points there, Geoff. With regard to providing a longer game demo, I suggest giving between 25% to 33% of the full version. Since most indie games are relatively short, this usually translates to about 2 hours on average. Well, if indie game developers can do this, then I believe something good will come out of this. With regard to providing tangible value for the game, indie game developer does not necessarily have to enforce single price and include the item/merchandise in the game price. They can sell the game with usual price without any item/merchandise or they can provide another option for the game with higher price which include the item/merchandise. It's like selling 2 stuff - the game with no item/merchandise and the game with item/merchandise. This provides a tremendous flexibility to player - if they want to pay cheap, they can just buy the game without item/merchandise. If they like the idea of bundling the game with item/merchandise, they will buy the game with higher price. So it's a win-win situation. No one get hurt or being cheated in the process. So this strategy can be made compatible with digital distribution such as Steam. Indie game developer can distribute their game through digital distribution service while at the same time selling the game with higher price that include item/merchandise on their website. I think Tale of Tales developer has already implement this strategy with their game, The Path. The Path is distributed through Steam which cost $10. At the same time they are selling a customized USB flash drive which contain the full version of The Path and other digital goodies for 30 Euro on their website. This is a good strategy if player can justify the price. You have a lot of good points there, Geoff. With regard to providing a longer game demo, I suggest giving between 25% to 33% of the full version. Since most indie games are relatively short, this usually translates to about 2 hours on average. Well, if indie game developers can do this, then I believe something good will come out of this.

With regard to providing tangible value for the game, indie game developer does not necessarily have to enforce single price and include the item/merchandise in the game price. They can sell the game with usual price without any item/merchandise or they can provide another option for the game with higher price which include the item/merchandise. It’s like selling 2 stuff – the game with no item/merchandise and the game with item/merchandise.

This provides a tremendous flexibility to player – if they want to pay cheap, they can just buy the game without item/merchandise. If they like the idea of bundling the game with item/merchandise, they will buy the game with higher price. So it’s a win-win situation. No one get hurt or being cheated in the process.

So this strategy can be made compatible with digital distribution such as Steam. Indie game developer can distribute their game through digital distribution service while at the same time selling the game with higher price that include item/merchandise on their website.

I think Tale of Tales developer has already implement this strategy with their game, The Path. The Path is distributed through Steam which cost $10. At the same time they are selling a customized USB flash drive which contain the full version of The Path and other digital goodies for 30 Euro on their website. This is a good strategy if player can justify the price.

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