It is rare that a week goes by without someone asking me (or, as is more likely, outright demanding) to show them how they can “get all the paid apps for free.” I always respond with “I dunno, can you show me how to shoplift?” And invariably they stare back at me with a completely blank look on their face. The connection, while seemingly obvious, is not one that they have the mental fortitude to make.
So I was more than a bit interested when the guys at Greenheart Games decided to remove the connection entirely and make piracy an insurmountable obstacle in the pirated versions of their game-development game.
You may need a moment to wrap your head around that last sentence. The game is about developing games. And in the pirated version, piracy sucks away all your potential profits. It’s sort of meta-gaming with a vengeance.
So what happens when the people who pirate the game can’t succeed in said game because of piracy? I don’t want to spoil the fun, so I’ll let your read the whole tale for yourself. Its worth it. But if you thought that maybe this would finally get a few people to understand the connection between “paying for apps” and “average joes getting paid for their work” … well, don’t hold your breath.
Not fair, indeed.