Dead Trigger set free due to "unbelievably high" Android app piracy
Madfinger drops the price on its 99-cent shooter due to Android piracy
Madfinger has decided to make its newest game, Dead Trigger, absolutely free on the Google Play Store due to "unbelievably high" Android app piracy. The title was released at the end of June for 99 cents, with in-app purchases also supporting the game. Today, Madfinger released a statement on the game's Facebook page about the price drop.
"The main reason: piracy rate on Android devices, that was unbelievably high. At first we intend to make this game available for as many people as possible - that's why it was for as little as buck. - It was much less than $8 for Shadowgun, but on the other hand we didn't dare to provide it for free, since we hadn't got XP with free-to-play format so far," said the Czech-based company.
"However, even for one buck, the piracy rate is soooo giant, that we finally decided to provide Dead Trigger for free. "
This is not the first time that developers have complained about the high piracy rate on the Android platform. Two months ago, Football Manager developer Sports Interactive cited a 9:1 piracy rate on Android. It's a problem Google will need to fix, especially with Microsoft entering the app store market soon.
Well, they should thing again... It was only a lousy Dollar for crying out loud!
There seems to be a rebellion around games with in-app at the moment. People are starting to feel ripped off again. It's also doubtful the piracy had anything at all to do with price. Google Play simply has no protection for apps and so it's not exactly a chore for anyone to get any app for free on the service.
When google start taking app security seriously, then we will see piracy rates drop. Until then there is simply no barrier for anyone from a child to a determined pirate.
1. Make a game that's tightly targeted to the demographic would are most likely to know how to circumvent paying. (3D, console genre, teenager-friendly content)
2. Complain about ratio of pirates (most of whom would never have paid) to paying customers.
3. Make the game free (with IAPs), when anyone could have seen that it should have been free in the first place.
The number of Android devices out there, the lax security and the relative scarcity of high quality content means that the pirate:legit ratio will always be terrible.
There's a point at which you should probably just accept that you're not going to get everyone in China and Russia (and most people under the age of 15 in North America and Europe) from paying up, and instead focus on how best to serve the players that will pay.
So yes, there might be a 9:1 (or whatever) ratio of pirated copies to legit ones. But that does no equate to a 9:1 ratio of lost sales vs sales. That number is probably more like 1:10. I would guess......
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Andrew on 24th July 2012 1:34pm
Also, people are kidding themselves if they don't think piracy is rampant on iOS as well. It takes a jailbreak, sure, but that's a common practice among the tech savvy, which games like this target pretty much exclusively.
Also, people are kidding themselves if they don't think piracy is rampant on iOS as well. It takes a jailbreak, sure, but that's a common practice among the tech savvy, which games like this target pretty much exclusively.