Cracked!
Serious Sam Double D was released on PC for $7.99 on August 30th around 1pm EST and within about 5 hours a crack by the "Theta" group showed up on the web. That seems pretty good in terms of interest in the game to have a crack out that quickly! It's flattering honestly. But I'm worried some of the gamers downloading the game and enjoying it may not have yet purchased a copy as well.UPDATE: The Free Demo for Serious Sam Double D is out now!
I also realize that even with a limited demo, some gamers may download the crack of the game to try it out with no demo restrictions to see if they like the whole thing. I'd simply like to plead with you that if downloaded a crack of Serious Sam Double D and enjoyed it, please buy a copy or donate! Thanks!
Don't want to deal with Steam? Just want to keep the bootleg but still pay for it? No problem, you can donate to MBG as well!
(Any Paypal info will not be used to prosecute, belittle, spam, or stalk. But we'll probably send you a thank you!)
Mommy's Best Games is a very small company of passionate developers, but passion doesn't manifest peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on our plates. We also need money in exchange for our fun games--if we miss out on a few hundred or thousand sales of the game due to pirating it's a BIG DEAL for us. You may have played half-way through the game, and thought "Oh, I'll pay for it at some point"--well consider this a friendly reminder to pay via the donate button or the Steam page!
Traffic
The tough part of course is we don't know how many copies we're losing to cracks, but there are tons of pages floating around and we get a lot of traffic to the site from those pages. We've gotten requests that people want to contribute not deal with Steam so there's the new way with the donate button. The game was even cracked a second time after we've updated a few things recently!
DRM Free
I'd like to point out that while the non-cracked version of the game requires an internet activation to play, you can run Steam in offline mode and play the game that way as well. There is no restriction on the number of installs you can make once you've purchased the game. The Steam version of Serious Sam Double D only has traditional "copy protection".
Thank You!
Did you enjoy the Gunstacker system? The weird enemies? The crazy secrets? I hope so, and if you did, purchasing a copy of the game or donating helps fund our future projects. Even if you didn't beat the whole game, please think about a purchase.
We'd like to make even more games you'll enjoy! Every sale helps and thanks for your support!
(And we'll definitely get the demo out very soon.)
27 comments:
I just want to let you guys know I enjoyed your game quite a bit and bought two subsequent copies for friends of mine on steam. The whole game is rare fun that most games barely offer me anymore these days. Thanks for the effort!
Online activation *and* Steam? Wow.
A pirated copy does not mean it is a lost sale. Some people won´t play a game unless it´s free and others won´t ever pay if they can avoid it. I really hope ppl who pirated the game and enjoyed it come here to donate or buy it on Steam (I´ll go for Steam, love it!), but no one can go screaming at a crack things like 'they took our jooooebs'.
Make tons of money guys!
@Kendu72
Thanks, I really appreciate it!
@Victor
Thanks man. Yes, I realize not 100% of bootlegs would be sales.
Even if there was a average 5% to 10% conversion rate,--from the thousands of downloads I saw on cracked sites--those would be appreciated sales.
Hey MBG,
You guys are awesome. I bought Serious Sam Double D a couple weeks ago, and I've had a ton of fun with it. It's especially nice of you to give discounts to those who already own the Serious Sam games, which I appreciate.
I just wanted to say that this blog post is classy as hell, and my respect for you has gone up even higher. This is why I love indie devs. I wish you much luck and success.
Looks like a nice game!
A Donate button is a nice idea as an alternative actually; I can understand why people would want to avoid Steam.
Actually, a Paypal button which gets you the game stand-alone DRM-free for the same price as the Steam-version would be excellent.
I would buy it like that, if there was a Linux version.
You just won an uninterested purchase by me. Wasn't on my radar, but your comments led me to support you.
Nathan, would you prefer a $7.99 donation or a purchase through Steam.
@Dan
Thank you sir! We aim to please. Any classiness we manage is nice bonus.
@Daniel
Cool, good point about the pay now button. We'll talk it through with Devolver Digital.
@Raw
If you don't want the game, go with the donate. If you do want the game, then go with Steam. Your support is great!
Let it never be said that gamers are whiny kids that don't support devs.
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1847/ssreceipt.png
Thanks MBG for this reaction & post. This is what's needed for the indie game industry to move forward.
BTW, I see on Steam that there's a 10% discount if you own any Serious Sam game. This didn't apply to me, even thou I've each and every SS game (the two originals and the HD remakes). Just so you know.
Dear Mommy's Best Games,
You know, an even better idea would be for you developers to pressure Steam to allow game trading/selling/gifting. I can't tell you how many times I see a game on Steam that I think might be kind of fun to play, but I always turn away for the SOLE REASON that if I buy the game, it's associated with my account FOREVER.
There are some games that I just don't want to keep and I would like the option of being able to
a) sell it to someone when I'm done playing,
b) trade it to someone for a different game, or
c) gift it to one of my brothers/friends since I don't want to play it anymore.
Why can't I do any of these with Steam? Sure, I can gift a game that I buy an additional copy of...but I can't ever get rid of a purchased Steam game I don't want anymore.
I actually watched some YouTube footage of this game and it looked like it would be fun for a few hours, but it's not worth spending money on *unless I can sell it later* or give it away to someone.
You developers need to stop being so full of greed that you are blinded to the fact that the resale market enables people to actually buy more of your products. You only associated a used sale with a lost sale on your part, completely oblivious to the fact that the money I recoup from the resale of your first game is money I would spend on your second.
If I was able to sell/trade/gift Steam games when I was done playing them, I'd spend a whole boatload more money using the system.
I didn't have must interest in Double D before now, but your level-headed response to the piracy (allowing non-steam pirates to donate is an awesome idea btw) is commendable.
For this blog post alone, I'm totally buying your game.
Keep it up sirs, I hope you manage to get some of the pirated sales (or at least indirect advertisement and subsequent revenue via pirates talking about it word of mouth) and demonstrate to other devs how to be awesome about this issue!
@Raw
That's very cool, thanks a heap! And yes, thanks for paying the full amount on there even though you own the prior games elsewhere. Very good of you.
@Brian
I appreciate your suggestions. I think Valve has considered this before but we'll pass along the comments.
@Nomaki
Thanks! Yes, I'd like it to help out game development in the future, either through donation or royalties (ideally the latter obviously).
If you want to make a plea to the pirate community like this, I'd suggest making the game available on your website as a "pay what you want" like Hummble Bundle or Radiohead's In Rainbows album.
You do that, I'll buy it. Screw Steam and what Valve has become.
I swear you'll see a rise in your sales and applause from the leechers and sceners.
We are anonymous, We are legion
I'd just like to say that this is the most reasonable way to even possibly get through to pirates. You didn't rage and shake your fist at people (well at least not publicly) to where no one would genuinely want to support MBG anymore. For that I applaud you and will definately pick up the game.
I wish you luck with the game. I asked one of you last week about the DRM in the game and then immediately bought it.
It's a good game and I hope it does well for you. Perfect for the Serious Sam franchise.
I also wish you good luck in getting the pirates to cooperate. Not ever one likes Steam, and some are just scumbags.
Good Luck anyways!
A reposted this on Facebook and a friend of mine stated that if you guys gave out some free Steam codes he would donate. Just a thought.
I did not know that this game had a crack, thank you very much!
My opinion of MBG just went through the roof! My first unfortunate encounter with Steam was spending 2 weeks getting Half Life 2 to load, and even longer to figure out "Offline Mode" (which should be renamed to "Occasionally Available Offline Mode").
And NO FRICKIN DRM TO EAT MY COMPUTER!!?? What is SS Double D, $7.99? Hell, if I get Double D I'll send you all $10 just because you're nice, trying to work with your consumers instead of treating us like liabilities waiting to happen! You asked nicely, too...
The only reasons I ever contemplate getting a pirated copy is simply because: no hoops to jump through, setup is a breeze, no worries about DRM killing my PC in overzealousness, no problems with a slow online connection at home, NO REQUIRED 100 MEGABYTE PATCHES BEFORE I PLAY THE GAME, no offline mode to beat my head against, and since the game's coming from people who ASSUME I'm going to pirate it... then hey, who am I to disappoint them? :P YOU, on the other hand... are you for real? You just seem too good to be true!
@Anon, Billy, R.gers,
Thanks a bunch! It's great help as keep on truckin!
1. Purchase game from steam get free SS TF2 Hats/Items.
2. ????
3. PROFIT!!!
I think if you go DRM free and provide a solid demo there's not much else you can do to draw a potential pirate to buy the game rather than get it illegally. It sucks that you lose sales to piracy BUT even if you lose out on some money the exposure is still good. It's kind of a "there's no such thing as bad press" situation.
Now when are we getting Grapple Buggy (360 and PC, because I'll buy both) and our MBG bundle on Steam? ;)
I look forward to the demo release; if I like it it will be purchased through my pusher (Steam). I'm not sure if this game is my cup of tea. That said, your solution is as classy as they come, and I hope you get a few donations because of it. I'm not a fan of the DRM out there, but I have gotten to a point in life where you put your money where your mouth is. The big publishers (EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom) have really turned my off quite a bit, so throwing down a few bucks is ok with me. I would suggest on the next project that there is some kind of demo to give you a feel for the game. The SPAZ demo took me from curious skeptic to believer. I know that is annoying extra work, but for those of us who want a feel for what you're developing before we pony up it is ideal.
As a total aside, the "Guns with Huff" video is hilarious. Keep up the awesome folks!
Well we all just play the game only,don't know about its making and behind the scenes of creation of this games..This blog is about it only.So its feel glad to read this..
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IMO it's a bit disingenuous to call a game on steam DRM-free if it requires Steam to be running in order to play. True DRM-Free games on steam do not require the client to be running. In this instance, Steam is basically just used to download and launch the game, but it can be launched on its own even without the client installed.
The game looks really cool and the sale price is damn good, but for someone like myself who refuses to purchase DRM'd games (including "Steam DRM"), it's disappointing to me and a lost sale for you guys. Just a little food for thought, hope to see this on GOG or some other truly DRM-free distro in the future.
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