the founder of democracy negotiates with pirates
Sometime in 2008, Cliff Harris, former Lionhead Studios programmer and current head of small-time developer Positech Games, got absolutely fed up with seeing software pirates eat up a huge chunk of his revenue. He logged on to various well-known Internet forums and flat-out asked gamers why they pirated his games. This was, needless to say, an extremely ballsy move, and one that from a typical cynical industry perspective was absolutely pointless. (It seems obvious, really. Why pay $60 for a game when you can get it for free?) But the response was overwhelming, and surprisingly insightful.
The best part of this story is that Harris actually listened. He's been offering longer demos, lower prices, more original gameplay ever since. (Just look at Gratuitous Space Battles, holy crap--and the Democracy series is to the future leaders of the world what Oregon Trail, Civilization, and SimCity were to our current ones.) And he's apparently doing quite well! The great thing is that as an independent developer, with none of the terrifying Hollywoodesque overhead hanging over him like it would at a typical triple-A studio, he can get away with taking risks like this. The downside is that since he doesn't have that overhead paying for Best Buy distribution, eyeball-incinerating graphics, Hollywoodesque interviews on the GameStop in-store channel, all that stuff that overhead is actually good for, you've never heard of him. He's got banner ads on facebook, his games occasionally get mentioned in Electronic Gaming Monthly sidebars, and Penny Arcade once dropped him a shout-out, but, well. His is the kind of name that draws puzzled looks even when dropped at those industry bar things I am apparently always going to.
And, well. It's not an isolated act of courage--the guy is very outspoken about game design and the current state of the game industry, in terms of both the casual market and triple-A titles. His comments on Farmville, support forums, and EVONY COME NOW MY LORD PLAY FREE FOREVER are spot on. This guy is so used to speaking truth to power that I imagine he's a bit of a pariah by now...
So...if his ridiculously awesome award-winning games aren't reason enough to buy from him (and they're like $15-20 each), well, now you have another reason. Unsung heroes like him make me a lot less apprehensive about trying to battering-ram my way into this industry.
I might get around to reviewing Democracy 2 here, once I get around to reviewing anything at all again. (Actually making games, and working on the website that pays my bills, is kind of eating up most of the time I'd be spending on that.)
Also, I know most of the people who read this journal aren't gamers, but...would you guys like some casual game recommendations? I play a lot of them, and you're their target audience more than I am--they're generally cheap, fun, and easy to pick up, and they don't require delving into the deep, bizarre abyss of gamer culture to enjoy them.
The best part of this story is that Harris actually listened. He's been offering longer demos, lower prices, more original gameplay ever since. (Just look at Gratuitous Space Battles, holy crap--and the Democracy series is to the future leaders of the world what Oregon Trail, Civilization, and SimCity were to our current ones.) And he's apparently doing quite well! The great thing is that as an independent developer, with none of the terrifying Hollywoodesque overhead hanging over him like it would at a typical triple-A studio, he can get away with taking risks like this. The downside is that since he doesn't have that overhead paying for Best Buy distribution, eyeball-incinerating graphics, Hollywoodesque interviews on the GameStop in-store channel, all that stuff that overhead is actually good for, you've never heard of him. He's got banner ads on facebook, his games occasionally get mentioned in Electronic Gaming Monthly sidebars, and Penny Arcade once dropped him a shout-out, but, well. His is the kind of name that draws puzzled looks even when dropped at those industry bar things I am apparently always going to.
And, well. It's not an isolated act of courage--the guy is very outspoken about game design and the current state of the game industry, in terms of both the casual market and triple-A titles. His comments on Farmville, support forums, and EVONY COME NOW MY LORD PLAY FREE FOREVER are spot on. This guy is so used to speaking truth to power that I imagine he's a bit of a pariah by now...
So...if his ridiculously awesome award-winning games aren't reason enough to buy from him (and they're like $15-20 each), well, now you have another reason. Unsung heroes like him make me a lot less apprehensive about trying to battering-ram my way into this industry.
I might get around to reviewing Democracy 2 here, once I get around to reviewing anything at all again. (Actually making games, and working on the website that pays my bills, is kind of eating up most of the time I'd be spending on that.)
Also, I know most of the people who read this journal aren't gamers, but...would you guys like some casual game recommendations? I play a lot of them, and you're their target audience more than I am--they're generally cheap, fun, and easy to pick up, and they don't require delving into the deep, bizarre abyss of gamer culture to enjoy them.