Trials dev uploaded torrent of own game

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 9th November 2009
Comments (21) Stumble
Trials dev uploaded torrent of own game

RedLynx, developer of the Trials games, has admitted it uploaded torrents of Trials 2 to the internet.

RedLynx, developers of the Trials series, has admitted that it uploaded some copies of Trials 2: Second Edition torrent sites on the same day that it released the game to customers.

The pirated version wasn't the full game though, according to GI.biz, who revealed that it lacked leaderboard support. RedLynx CEO Tero Virtala said that the idea was to encourage pirates to then upgrade to the full, legit version.

"Piracy is here, so how can we take advantage of that? What we did actually, on day one, we put that game immediately on all the torrent networks ourselves," said Virtala.

"That game relies really heavily on the server side - the leaderboards are the soul of the game. I don't know if it's helped, I'd assume so because even though the version that we put on the torrent networks wasn't the full version, it's the version of the game without the actual soul, without the leaderboards to play against other players."

The game has gone on to sell 150,000 copies on PC, though RedLynx isn't sure how it piracy affected sales.

"When we compare that hacked version with those who have access to leaderboards and are accessing our servers they match. So at least people have not cracked our leaderboards yet," he added.

Following on from that same point, Torsten Reil of NaturalMotion lamented the piracy rate on iPhone title Backbreaker even though the game is sold at the lowest AppStore price point - just 59p.

"At 59p it's pretty fair to assume that a lot of those pirates would have been able and would have bought the game, but there's an overall attitude that it's fine to pirate."

"There is in general a feeling that IP and content should be free. That's fine to say, but if you have to pay all the people that actually put their heart and soul into a game - who have to pay a mortgage off and have children - it becomes much more difficult. Yes, you can limit [piracy] with technical tricks, but there needs to be an overall change in the perception of IP and the people who create it."

Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Quote mi1ez 9th November 2009, 12:35
"There is in general a feeling that IP and content should be free. That's fine to say, but if you have to pay all the people that actually put their heart and soul into a game - who have to pay a mortgage off and have children - it becomes much more difficult. Yes, you can limit [piracy] with technical tricks, but there needs to be an overall change in the perception of IP and the people who create it."

Completely agree with this
Quote Phil Rhodes 9th November 2009, 12:42
Well, you don't have to have children...
Quote alpaca 9th November 2009, 12:47
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...
Quote liratheal 9th November 2009, 12:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpaca
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...

but how does the dev pay for the staff, the building, the equipment etc etc :B
Quote Sifter3000 9th November 2009, 12:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpaca
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...

Sounds like your work for a HR dept... :p
Quote sear 9th November 2009, 13:10
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpaca
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...
As someone who wants to be a game designer, I'm not sure I'm in favour of this strategy. :(
Quote feedayeen 9th November 2009, 14:32
Quote:
Originally Posted by sear
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpaca
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...
As someone who wants to be a game designer, I'm not sure I'm in favour of this strategy. :(

It is just a cost savings program for the programmers. It's not going to save the company any money since that is what they expect you to do already.
Quote Psytek 9th November 2009, 15:51
People who pirate a 59p product were obviously never going to buy it... even if they had a billions pounds. Piracy is not lost sales... yada yada, broken record, nobody will ever listen, who cares, look out for number one, use SSL/SSH and ignore the white men in the black suits, they're idiots, and they'll be dead soon.
Quote Star*Dagger 9th November 2009, 17:38
If your mortgage is more than 10 years you are getting robbed, no different than a mugging in the street, except the mugging would only take what you have on you.

The idea that we play 3 to 5 times the amount of the loan over 30 years is one of the greatest system of social control for the people who are intelligent enough to actually start and succeed in revolutionary action. Every mortgage payment is a loss of your freedom and money to people who do not have your interests in mind.
And that ladies and gentleman is why we should push for real banking reform and any other area that limits our lives.

S*D
Quote Cerberus90 9th November 2009, 17:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by sear
Quote:
Originally Posted by alpaca
solution: castrate all game programmers and let them sleep under their desk so they don't have to pay off a house...
As someone who wants to be a game designer, I'm not sure I'm in favour of this strategy. :(

As someone who is curerntly doing a degree in games programming, I'm definitely not in favour of this, :D
Quote mikeuk2004 9th November 2009, 18:16
This is an amazing game, I have Trials HD on the xbox 360 and its worth every penny. Think it cost me just a little over £10 and you get your moneys worth.

Pirates should have their eletrical goods taken off them and crushed.
Quote jezmck 9th November 2009, 18:31
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/11/09/trials-dev-uploaded-torrent-of-own-game/1

RedLynx, the developer of Trials 2, has admitted it uploaded torrents of it's own game to the internet.

:|

FFS Joe, why is it always your grammar fails I see?
Quote SMIFFYDUDE 9th November 2009, 19:16
I was beginning to think I was the only one left who respected IP and thinks that just because file sharing is possible doesn't mean its a human right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star*Dagger
If your mortgage is more than 10 years you are getting robbed, no different than a mugging in the street, except the mugging would only take what you have on you.

The idea that we play 3 to 5 times the amount of the loan over 30 years is one of the greatest system of social control for the people who are intelligent enough to actually start and succeed in revolutionary action. Every mortgage payment is a loss of your freedom and money to people who do not have your interests in mind.
And that ladies and gentleman is why we should push for real banking reform and any other area that limits our lives.

S*D

Little wonder why mortgage means death grip.
Quote mrbens 9th November 2009, 23:25
I wish I had pirated this game instead of buying it because I only played it for a day and didn't like it!
Quote giantegg 10th November 2009, 01:50
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psytek
People who pirate a 59p product were obviously never going to buy it... even if they had a billions pounds. Piracy is not lost sales... yada yada, broken record, nobody will ever listen, who cares, look out for number one, use SSL/SSH and ignore the white men in the black suits, they're idiots, and they'll be dead soon.

..what are you, high?



I'm not sure what ssl/ssh has to do with anything, and piracy clearly IS lost sales. Not all pirates would buy games if piracy was impossible, but some would. gtfo my bit-tech.
Quote Javerh 10th November 2009, 07:12
Nevermind the piracy but when are they going to release Alien Phobia 4?
Quote leexgx 10th November 2009, 09:23
Quote:
Originally Posted by giantegg

I'm not sure what ssl/ssh has to do with anything, and piracy clearly IS lost sales. Not all pirates would buy games if piracy was impossible, but some would. gtfo my bit-tech.

its what is used for loading games without itunes
Quote Landy_Ed 10th November 2009, 12:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star*Dagger
If your mortgage is more than 10 years you are getting robbed, no different than a mugging in the street, except the mugging would only take what you have on you.

The idea that we play 3 to 5 times the amount of the loan over 30 years is one of the greatest system of social control for the people who are intelligent enough to actually start and succeed in revolutionary action. Every mortgage payment is a loss of your freedom and money to people who do not have your interests in mind.
And that ladies and gentleman is why we should push for real banking reform and any other area that limits our lives.

S*D

Choice exists, unlike a mugging. If you don't buy your home, you're paying someone else's mortgage instead. We all get to see beforehand how much it's going to cost us based on current interest rates. Still no excuse for theft (whether it's software, music or physical product). Nothing is free in this life, it's just a question of who foots the bill. & good on you RedLynx for taking a brave approach, unlike IW who are not even releasing a demo of MW2. I've never heard of the Trials series, but I'll certainly look out for them.
Quote giantegg 11th November 2009, 03:27
Quote:
Originally Posted by leexgx

its what is used for loading games without itunes

riiiight. I'm going to assume that means you play it on your iphone or ipods..
2 things,
1. What a horrible gaming medium, games on mobile devices, for now, are gimmicks and only that.
2. Why are iphone/apple gamers reading a PC tech website, and complaining about issues that don't -really- affect them?
Quote alantwelve 11th November 2009, 13:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrbens
I wish I had pirated this game instead of buying it because I only played it for a day and didn't like it!

Um, if the developer torrented it and you downloaded that torrent, you have not pirated the game.

It would be interesting to know if this approach did lead to any more sales.

Also, re-reading the story, I notice that it refers to the "pirated version" of the game. Really, the copyright holder torrented it, so how can it be pirated? Unimpressed...
Quote PureSilver 11th November 2009, 23:21
Remarkably (given my general contempt for piracy) I actually completely agree with alantwelve; this isn't piracy. It's not piracy if it was company policy leak torrents. This is like Britney leaking her schedule to paparazzi and then then complaining about being followed everywhere she goes.

This is an iPhone game? I've never used my iPhone for gaming, but I assume there's no way of getting demos?
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