Home Gaming Developer pleads with pirates to pay for the game so he can pay his rent

Developer pleads with pirates to pay for the game so he can pay his rent

1 min read
24

InFlux

Piracy is not a new problem in the gaming industry and we’ve had developers ask pirates to pay for their game instead of simply stealing it but the developer behind InFlux has put quite an emotional heartfelt appeal out to the pirates who are downloading his game.

“I’m Joe Wintergreen. I run Impromptu Games. We made this game.

I just wanted to ask you all to please consider buying InFlux if you enjoy playing it and have the money. We’re not a big company. This is our first commercial PC game, and we’d really appreciate your support, especially me (I seriously have no idea how I’m paying rent this month).

You can currently get the game from GOG, Amazon or the Humble Store via http://www.influxgame.com for ten bucks (you can also tip, if you want, on Humble). If you’re not able to buy it for whatever reason, I’d still appreciate your feedback on the game.”

Where Joe gets his message right is when he states he can’t afford to pay rent and that if you really can’t afford it then he is asking for feedback.

Either way he is hoping that you will reward him for the hard work he has put into the game while at the same time now calling you out for the freeloading scumbag that you really are.

I truly hope it works and that at least 10% of the pirates decide the hand over some cash to Joe as it would be disgusting to see him lose his place simply because people refused to pay a measly $10 for a game they were playing.

As you can see I’m still not a fan of pirates.

Last Updated: August 5, 2013

24 Comments

  1. ElimiNathan

    August 5, 2013 at 12:14

    Haha, shame. Maybe I will go and buy it just to help this poor guy out, looks like a decent game in any case

    Reply

  2. That Twit In Black

    August 5, 2013 at 12:25

    Heres hoping it works out for him & InFlux.

    Reply

  3. TiMsTeR1033

    August 5, 2013 at 12:49

    hmmmm tempting, should I get legally or not leaning towards the second option…… I mean they said on website try before you buy hahahaha I kid…. or do I o_o

    Reply

  4. Macethy

    August 5, 2013 at 12:49

    As much sympathy as I have for Joe, I hope that this doesn’t start an avalanche of “indie” devs doing the same thing, begging for funding or whatnot (isn’t that what Kickstarter is for?).

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      August 5, 2013 at 12:51

      maybe he used kickstarter on booze and hookers

      Reply

      • MAcethy

        August 5, 2013 at 14:09

        Blackjack and hookers!

        Reply

  5. iPhoneGameDeveloper

    August 5, 2013 at 13:02

    Piracy is a big problem in gaming industry. Game developers face this
    problem often and their hard work getting stolen by others, so that they don’t
    get the expected cost for the particular game. I hope it can be avoided when
    they provide security code and the activation key for downloading the game. br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}http://www.omate.com.au/android_iphone_game_developer

    Reply

  6. InsanityFlea

    August 5, 2013 at 13:08

    never heard of this title before.

    Reply

  7. Trevor Davies

    August 5, 2013 at 13:15

    Hope a few of the “try before you buy” crowd do the right thing.

    Reply

    • Kromas

      August 5, 2013 at 13:27

      Nothing wrong with that type of pirating. Aliens: Colonial marines is my case in point. How many people who pre-ordered it got seriously screwed over? Then again I still pre-order games hoping all will be as advertised. Hell I own a Balls of steel edition of duke.

      Reply

      • Trevor Davies

        August 5, 2013 at 13:38

        Yes & no. If someone does that, plays for an hour or 2 to see if they like it & then either buys or uninstalls, I’m okay with it. It’s when they play the whole game and then decide they’re not going to buy it that I get annoyed & call BS on the demo excuse.

        I’ve stopped preordering, there’s just too much dishonesty from pubs & devs about their games – I’ll rather wait until a proper review is out, and even if the reviews aren’t fantastic, I might still buy it further down the line if it’s something that interests me. That’s not even taking into account the million & one DLCs & my wish the play the whole game at once.

        Reply

        • Kromas

          August 5, 2013 at 14:02

          I was specifically talking about people who buy the game and play a few hours or so. Those who finish the game should buy it.

          On your second point. I do not really like games like GTA but I recently bought the deep silver humble bundle and got Saints Row. Needless to say I am almost done and have pre-ordered Saints Row 4 on steam already :P. The power of steam summer/winter sales,GoG sales and Humble Bundle should stop a lot of people from pirating (at least I hope).

          Reply

  8. Brenz

    August 5, 2013 at 13:16

    When I was a lot younger I used to pirate games, back then I didnt see what the big deal was, I didnt think it affected the studios.
    These days im a bit older and a bit wiser (I hope at least!), and I have these arguments with people I know who still pirate games. Trying to make them get the picture that the studios and developers NEED that money to carry on making the games that we enjoy so much, and to survive!
    How can you expect people to survive if they dont have money coming in? Its the same as all of us in our respective jobs, we dont work for free, and neither should they, especially as they are doing a service directly for us.
    Just because something is easy and convenient doesnt make it ok. If you can afford a console or a nice PC, then you can afford one game a month at least for your respective platform.
    And these days with BTGames and their rental contracts it makes it even easier, for console gamers at least.

    Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      August 5, 2013 at 13:22

      With all the specials you can get on Steam, GOG, etc there’s not much excuse on PC either. If you can’t afford it on day one, then just wait, it’ll come down eventually – impatience isn’t a valid argument.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Minion 47

        August 5, 2013 at 13:23

        Yeah, I don’t care about day one releases any more.

        I care about the Midweek madness, the weekends specials, the summer/winter sales, the humble bundles. These are the things that excites me

        Reply

      • Brenz

        August 5, 2013 at 13:24

        Thats true, I left that out, the pc specials are crazy cheap, absolutely no excuse there

        Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      August 5, 2013 at 13:34

      at least I buy all my console games. But to be honest havent found the need for getting pirated pc games. in the past did alot but yeah seems as you said we realise what it does to the industry over time.

      Reply

  9. Uberutang

    August 5, 2013 at 13:44

    Poor guy. I am buying a copy asap.

    Reply

  10. Rock789

    August 5, 2013 at 14:02

    Have to agree with the poor bloke – pirates should be on the seven seas, possibly shouting “Yarr!” with a parrot on their shoulder… Not downloading games in cyberspace for free.

    Yes, gaming is expensive. But if the game is worth playing through till the end, then it’s worth owning legitimately, me thinks.

    Reply

  11. Macethy

    August 5, 2013 at 14:05

    Can he provide an estimate of how many copies of the game were pirated or how much money he has actually lost? This might just be a publicity stunt to generate sales by simply blaming piracy for a game that didn’t sell. I could be wrong.

    Reply

    • That Twit In Black

      August 5, 2013 at 15:01

      How does one accurately gauge the number of pirate copies of his game?

      Reply

  12. Uberutang

    August 5, 2013 at 14:15

    R100 for an indie game is also a tad high.

    at R30-R50 I instant buy almost anything, but R100 = big budget game on Steam…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Minion 47

      August 5, 2013 at 14:26

      Hehehe, indeed

      Reply

  13. Eric Rinus Kok

    August 5, 2013 at 19:11

    I don’t buy games anymore because of steam. Buy the disc and still have to download the entire game!! for what!! for who!! I’m hoping GTA V won’t have steam.

    Reply

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