The Machinarium developers are sad pandas. You see, when they released Machinarium, they decided to keep it completely DRM free, so that gamers weren’t bothered with stupid online authentications and product keys.
The problem, with trying to be so awesome to your audience, is that from what they have determined, the piracy rate on the game was so bad that they reckon that only around 15-20% of Machinarium players actually paid for the game.
They are now holding a Pirate Amnesty Sale to allow all of those pirates to redeem themselves, clear their conscience and at the same time, get the game as well as its soundtrack for only $5 (the game usually sells for $20).
It’s kind of sad to see that they have had to resort to an idea like this to actually try and make some decent money for all of their hard work, isn’t it? Either way, if you have pirated the game, do the right thing and at the very least, go and put some money down for your gaming experience. It’s really cheap, and really the least you could do.
It’s a bit of a bargain for all of the legit gamers out there as well, because thanks to sale, anyone else who has thought about getting the game for a while can now pick it up for a complete err… steal.
They have also made a point of letting everyone know that the deal will not in any way expose who the pirates were, so don’t be afraid to go and show your better-late-than-never support.
Machinarium is available for Mac, PC and Linux. The sale ends on August 12.
You can check the official Pirate Amnesty page out here.
Source: Joystiq
Last Updated: August 9, 2010
Bobby Kotick hates DRM
August 9, 2010 at 12:50
That’s really sad, especially because there are only a handful of developers (generally indies) who release their games free of DRM, but are still targeted by unscrupulous, entitled little fucks.
ewie
August 9, 2010 at 13:22
well i bought it at $5 , played the demo and was planning on picking it up at a later stage, was hoping it come to xbox but that seem not to happen, so this seemed like a good alternative/
koldFU5iON
August 10, 2010 at 08:43
I got this a while back on steam, I enjoyed this game thoroughly it took me back to the lucas style games
Christo Le Grange
August 10, 2010 at 10:04
Sad state of affairs, but unfortunately the reality.agree with Mr. Kotick…blêrrie entitled bastards.You should find away of tracking each copy, and make some kind of a pop-up appear each time they enter the game.”BUY ONLINE? YES/NO”…”BUY ONLINE? YES/NO”….”BUY ONLINE? YES/NO”….”BUY ONLINE? YES/NO”…”BUY ONLINE? YES/NO”
Uberutang
August 10, 2010 at 11:17
And then they ‘patch’ that away?
There will never be a truly pirate free way (and that is good, since it balances the economy out)
Image what Mr Kotick would charge for COD 12 if it can never be pirated?
They are a necesary evil.
Best way to beat / get around large numbers of :pirate: is to make game sizes HUGE. COD 8: 200 gig download… that would work…
Christo Le Grange
August 10, 2010 at 14:51
That a actualy a good idea, uber!