- Dec 30, 2012
- 4,809
- Content source
- http://dispatches.cheatcc.com/2087
Jonathan Blow, the man behind Braid and the more recent smash-hit puzzler The Witness, has brought an old issue back to light and it's an one worthy of our consideration. That issue is video game piracy. Very soon after the release of The Witness two things happened: rave reviews started pouring in from websites all over, and The Witness shot up the ranks of multiple torrent aggregates. It's now competing with major, AAA games such as Rise of the Tomb Raider for the most seeders and leechers. Video game piracy is nothing new, but it's unfortunate to see that it remains such an issue in an age where most of the content we want is available to us either for free by streaming, or dirt cheap through subscription services.
While piracy may not affect big publishers like EA and Ubisoft in a major way, for people like Jonathan Blow and his development team it can mean the difference between a long career and an early grave. The Witness was a risky project for Blow. He knew that out of all of the prototypes and ideas that he'd been working on, The Witness was by far the most ambitious. Originally a budget of $800,000 was allocated for development, but the success of Braid meant that Blow could seed inmuch more money than originally planned. By the end of development, the cost of developing The Witness came to just under $6 million.
That extra money became a necessity as The Witness expanded in scope. It went to a team of developers, around 15 at one point, who worked tirelessly to make this game a reality. Much of that labor went into creating an original game engine from the ground up just for The Witness. Blow could have licensed an engine or used something like Unity, but being the controlling creative that he is, he wanted full command of every aspect of development. That meant a lot of time; a lot of man hours; a lot of money.
Now $6 million may seem trivial when compared to the budget of a game like Destiny, but it sent Blow into debt, and the future of his career depends on at least doubling the cost of development. In an age where the generosity of fans and gamers becomes so visibly apparent through crowdfunding campaigns, it boggles my mind that piracy is still such an issue. At the time of writing this article, right this moment there are over 500 people downloading The Witness from The Pirate Bay alone. That's at least 500 people who feel entitled to play a $6 million dollar passion project without paying a cent. Most of those 500 people will love the game, not giving a damn that their flippancy translates to over $20,000 that will never go back to Jonathan Blow. If the game weren't pirated at all it's likely that Blow and his team would have already made enough money to start brainstorming another brilliant project.
A large, Chinese hacking syndicate has stated that video game piracy might come to an end in 2 years' time due to the increasing complexity of encryption technology. I can only hope that that's true. Even if the encryption does become sophisticated enough to ward off thieves it is still very expensive to license, and that means most indie developers simply can't afford to protect their creations.
I suppose all we can do is hope that the honest begin to outnumber the childish, and hope that the gaming community reaches a point of maturation where enjoying a stolen game gives rise to such a disorienting conflict of ideals that it becomes unbearable. Until that time I only have one thing to say: Don't be a dick. If you love a game and you're inspired by the heart and creativity that was poured into its making, then pay for it. Even if it's not everything you hoped it'd be, the developers deserve your support. Their art is their service, and I'm sure that whatever good or service you provide to the world merits your getting paid as well. Let's end the hypocrisy and honor our artists.
While piracy may not affect big publishers like EA and Ubisoft in a major way, for people like Jonathan Blow and his development team it can mean the difference between a long career and an early grave. The Witness was a risky project for Blow. He knew that out of all of the prototypes and ideas that he'd been working on, The Witness was by far the most ambitious. Originally a budget of $800,000 was allocated for development, but the success of Braid meant that Blow could seed inmuch more money than originally planned. By the end of development, the cost of developing The Witness came to just under $6 million.
That extra money became a necessity as The Witness expanded in scope. It went to a team of developers, around 15 at one point, who worked tirelessly to make this game a reality. Much of that labor went into creating an original game engine from the ground up just for The Witness. Blow could have licensed an engine or used something like Unity, but being the controlling creative that he is, he wanted full command of every aspect of development. That meant a lot of time; a lot of man hours; a lot of money.
Now $6 million may seem trivial when compared to the budget of a game like Destiny, but it sent Blow into debt, and the future of his career depends on at least doubling the cost of development. In an age where the generosity of fans and gamers becomes so visibly apparent through crowdfunding campaigns, it boggles my mind that piracy is still such an issue. At the time of writing this article, right this moment there are over 500 people downloading The Witness from The Pirate Bay alone. That's at least 500 people who feel entitled to play a $6 million dollar passion project without paying a cent. Most of those 500 people will love the game, not giving a damn that their flippancy translates to over $20,000 that will never go back to Jonathan Blow. If the game weren't pirated at all it's likely that Blow and his team would have already made enough money to start brainstorming another brilliant project.
A large, Chinese hacking syndicate has stated that video game piracy might come to an end in 2 years' time due to the increasing complexity of encryption technology. I can only hope that that's true. Even if the encryption does become sophisticated enough to ward off thieves it is still very expensive to license, and that means most indie developers simply can't afford to protect their creations.
I suppose all we can do is hope that the honest begin to outnumber the childish, and hope that the gaming community reaches a point of maturation where enjoying a stolen game gives rise to such a disorienting conflict of ideals that it becomes unbearable. Until that time I only have one thing to say: Don't be a dick. If you love a game and you're inspired by the heart and creativity that was poured into its making, then pay for it. Even if it's not everything you hoped it'd be, the developers deserve your support. Their art is their service, and I'm sure that whatever good or service you provide to the world merits your getting paid as well. Let's end the hypocrisy and honor our artists.
