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The makers of the point-and-click adventure game Machinarium came to a realization recently. Their DRM-free game was being pirated by about 90% of players. Such is life for a game that doesn't bother users with serials or authentication. A similar rate of piracy was found for the DRM-free World of Goo. However, the folks behind Machinarium are feeling generous, and are offering people the opportunity to participate in their new pirate amnesty sale.
Until August 12th, Machinarium (and its soundtrack) will cost only $5. It usually goes for $20. The game is available for PC, Mac, and Linux. In Machinarium you play as an unassuming robot traveling through a beautifully detailed world mechanical malcontents. We grabbed this game from Steam a while back, and can testify to its quality and challenging puzzle-based gameplay.
You don't need to prove you pirated the game to join in the fun. Anyone is free to buy the game during the sale. If you like point-and-click style casual games, $5 is a reasonable price to pay. You can check out a demo of the game, and buy it here.
Comments are closed on this article
deismanj
August 09, 2010 at 9:18am
The makers of WoG tried a 'Pay anything you want' sale because piracy was so high, but they still couldn't make enough money to cover costs and went bankrupt. Piracy is wrong, but it's even worse when it's done against a company that can't survive it, not to mention that gamers should be encouraging DRM free games.
routine
August 09, 2010 at 7:53am
This just further proves: consumers decide prices, not suppliers.
$20 was too much for this game. $5 is where it should have been priced from the get-go.
ifailatliving
August 09, 2010 at 6:55am
"In Machinarium you play as an unassuming robot traveling through a beautifully detailed world mechanical malcontents."
this site is a pleasure to read
okron1k
August 07, 2010 at 12:54pm
if it was 5 dollars on steam right now i'd grab it. but unfortunately it isn't, so it will stay in my wishlist until the next big steam sale.
praetor_alpha
August 07, 2010 at 10:35am
I tried the demo last night, and bought it. Both the game and soundtrack are a "steal" at 5 bucks.
snapple00
August 07, 2010 at 9:24am
And people are wondering why intrusive DRM exists?
If that 90% figure is true, I have little faith left in humanity.
greencpu
August 06, 2010 at 7:10pm
but I went and bought it.
3 reasons
1 drm free - we should be encouraging this
2 linux native version - also needs to be encouraged
3 5 bucks. come on. even if it sucks, that isn't going to kill me.
DigitalNogi
August 06, 2010 at 8:13pm
Five dollars for these indie games is a great deal... but I would have probably bought it for those five dollars if the deal extended to Steam. I can only find it for $19.99 there... to which I say, "Not in my young queer life!"
grorc
August 06, 2010 at 6:11pm
This is sad news for those of us that are against piracy and hate DRM.
someuid
August 09, 2010 at 4:00pm
I agree. This is sad that there are so many who would steal it just because no one is watching or they won't get caught.
fuddco
August 06, 2010 at 5:19pm
I used to sell christmas trees for a guy,we sold them at 3 times the price of other lots but still made a profit. Why? Well we had a good product(very fresh,shape,service)and people will pay it if they want it bad enough and perceive that the price means a quality product.
The price isn't the problem though in this case, it's that you cant beat FREE. The internet proves that, look at the porn industry, they are losing money to free sites because free wins over paying almost every time.
People in general will always pick somthing for free if given the choice to do so, and they will justify stealing in order to get something free.
Free_Willy
August 06, 2010 at 5:00pm
Getting it for free didn't seem to make it any better. Maybe I should try paying.
Bucket_Monster
August 06, 2010 at 4:13pm
Honestly these indie games need to have more reasonable prices in the first place. $20 for this seems a bit too much.
Zachary K.
August 06, 2010 at 3:33pm
yea, anyone willing to pirate wont pay a dime for anything if they can just pirate it. this just proves that bad DRM is better than no DRM (for the company, not for us).
aviaggio
August 06, 2010 at 4:50pm
I don't know if that's universally true. While I'm sure there are a great many that do, I think there are a whole lot that don't. A lot has to do with price. Someone might not see the value in a game at $20, but be more than willing to pay $5.
Don't assume everyone who downloads stuff doesn't also spend a fair chunk of money legitimately buying stuff too. I think there was a recent study done about this that proved it.
Muerte
August 09, 2010 at 1:49pm
My guess is that the people who already have pirated the game will not pay the 5 bucks anyhow.
I guess i can support a reasonable DRM seeing as how we will lose indie games if the don't protect themselves.
