There's a new game out there, that appeals to many sim lovers. It's called Game Dev Tycoon. It's a rather straighforward game where you build up a game company.

The developers at Greenheart Games released it on their site, and then they decided to see how much this game will get pirated. They uploaded a different version to the most famous of the torrent sites, to see what would happen.


Boss, it seems that while many players play our new game, they steal it by downloading a cracked version rather than buying it legally.

If players don’t buy the games they like, we will sooner or later go bankrupt.


People who pirated the game started off fairly well, but when gametime increased, as with the timeframe of the game, piracy started becoming a problem. Legitimate versions of the game continued to be a simulator that had a random level of piracy, that could be fought against by reseraching DRM and such. As with pirates, the game begins like the original normal version of it, but with new game releases they create, "slowly their in-game funds dwindle, and new games they create have a high chance to be pirated until their virtual game development company goes bankrupt."

This has been brought up in their forum as a problem that players are increasingly complaining about. Ironic, isn't it? Here's some of their provided screens from the forums:


This is rather ironic. This game proves how oblivious people are in terms of pirating. They still see this as a game mechanic and ignore it by exiting the game, mayhaps never playing again. As a developer of the game explains in his blogpost, this is apalling. I find that this game is very educating and eye opening, as it is also an enjoyable, DRM free game.


I am one of those people that are "try-before-you-buy". I am a student, and I have a minimum wage job next to my school, but I do enjoy gaming, as it has been a large part of my life. It is a drag to shell out money for a game that you turn out not liking or that doesn't perform even adequately but there are always mixed feelings about gamers like me.

I am a supporter of indie developers, as I have bought many games that are just as easy to pirate and play as some would do with music or movies - click, click, wait, click, click, click, game.


I tried this game before I bought it, but I didn't have time to play it to the point of the piracy problem becoming an issue. Upon finding the mentioned blog post in my Facebook feed, I read through it, chuckled to myself and thought about it for a second.

I enjoyed the game. I hate DRM. I didn't get to the piracy part, but it made me think. The game is an ironic example of the obliviousness of people today. I checked my bank account - *tumbleweed*. I decided that I'll wait for my paycheck, because I need to buy my end-of-month Ramen noodles. Until then, to save myself from frustration, I just uninstalled it. I can afford $8, because I want to see more games from Greenheart Games. Since they aim to provide Steam keys if and once it makes it there, that makes my life that much easier.


Everyone doesn't have a moral obligation to do this like I do, but if I try games and I like them, I eventually buy them to support the developers. I love gaming, and I want them to keep churning out games that I can devour.

BUT! I want to know other's opinions on this topic - do you believe in Try-Before-Buy? Do you buy all your games without "testing" them first?