The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

August 9, 2010

Indie game developer and publisher Amanita Design has announced a Pirate Amnesty Sale to encourage the purchase of its point and click adventure game, Machinarium (Mac, PC, Linux). The sale, which runs until August 12, is a smart assed response to internal figures it has unearthed showing that only 5 - 15 percent of those playing the game have actually paid for it. During the sale the game will be available for a mere $5 - down from the usual $20.

Part of the reason the game is so widely available and apparently heavily pirated is because the company chose to release it without any kind of DRM protection. For doing that Amanita Design deserves a bit of credit and some respect.

So how can it get that respect? By those that are enjoying the game to pay a little something for it. Here's a message from the developers on the sale:

Everybody who downloaded our game illegally (for free) has now a chance to redeem himself and get the latest version of the game (Win+Mac+Linux) and it’s fantastic Soundtrack only for $5 (instead of $20).

We released the game DRM free which means it doesn’t include any anti-piracy protection, therefore the game doesn’t bother players with any serial codes or online authentication, but it’s also very easy to copy it. Our estimate from the feedback is that only 5-15% of Machinarium players actually paid for the game. If you decide to buy the game, you can be sure you’ll support directly the developers, not any big publisher or distributor.

While the sale is geared towards those that pirated the game, Amanita Design wants to encourage those that don't own it to also take advantage of the $5 price tag. No judgments on anyone that wants to pick up the game - for whatever reason.

Source: IMG

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Comments

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Arell on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 21:10.

I bought it when it first came out. I'm nostalgic for the old point-and-click adventure games, and it got good reviews. That said, it was too short to be worth the $20 I paid for it. Yeah, bargin bin pricing, but it's really short. I think I finished it in two nights. Some of the puzzles wll have you scratching your head, but in a good way. The game also gives you hints on how to solve puzzles, but only if you want the hints. The hints are hidden behind a boring minigame that makes you really want to figure the solutions out on your own. There is no dialog, but the vocalizations of the various robots work very well.

Sort of reminds me of Limbo that just came out. Brilliant game, but not quite worth it's initial price. $15 for a 4 hour game is too expensive.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Craig R. on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 17:32.

The game - which I've never heard of - could've been heavily pirated even with DRM. Although 'heavily' is a matter of perspective, seeing as we have no idea how many copies of this game have sold. I'm guessing not so many as to qualify as worthy of the word 'heavily' being applied anywhere near it.

I also hate the argument that pirated copy automatically equals lost sale, seeing that people who pirate it will buy it (no, we don't know how many), and people who pirate it may never play it in the end either (no, we don't know how many).

Throwing around nebulous numbers like 90% is just that: typical bs statistics that can be made up on the spot.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Michael Chandra on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 22:12.

Good that you hate that argument. How does it have anything to do with this discussion, though? They never said anything about lost sales.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 07:00.

Michael Chandra

MR jedi haz control issues =^.^=

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by vellocet on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 21:32.

Some games have things like leaderboards and stuff that call back to the games servers. They can tell how many people are playing versus how many people have purchased.

Which is the argument they're making here. They didn't say that a pirated copy was a lost sale. They're saying that of all the people using their product, up to 90% of them did not pay for it.

------- Morality has always been in decline. As you get older, you notice it. When you were younger, you enjoyed it.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Craig R. on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 23:32.

Their 'argument' is, from their own words, based on estimates from feedback.

Yeah, very scientific.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by jedidethfreak on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 19:31.

Well, your argument is just as BS as the stats, since you also have nothing with which to back them up.

---

With the first link, the chain is forged.

--- With the first link, the chain is forged.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Icehawk on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 16:21.

A vote for the Ironic. I salute.

I've never heard of this title (and hense did not pirate). Is it any good?

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by BCD303 on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 00:33.

i got this game a few months back for about $30 AUS

fantastic. my GF and house mate and i sat im my room and we all put our heads together to solve the problem. BRILIANT , puzzles are great , and nice humor 8.5 out of 10% . worst part was when i finished i wanted to play on.

BCD303 "Speedy thing goes in. Speedy thing comes out."

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by jedidethfreak on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 19:30.

I played the demo, and it's definitely worth five bucks.

I just might pick it up.

---

With the first link, the chain is forged.

--- With the first link, the chain is forged.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by Monte on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 15:19.

I never pirated it, but i think i'll take advantage of that sale... really, I do hear good things about indie games, but I usually don't have enough interest in them to pay $20 for them(for added clarification, i rarely buy AAA titles when they are $50-60 either... with a few exceptions). All the indie games I have bought was when they were on sale on Steam.

Re: The Machinarium Pirate Amnesty Sale

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 15:05.

Why not call it a desperation sle?

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

---

http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

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Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm

Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm

Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm

Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm

james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm

Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm

Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm

PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm

Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm

Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm

james_fudge: it sounds like if you have an HD reciever you'll be able to use it with a pass-through cable... not 100 percent sure yet05/21/2013 - 2:41pm

james_fudge: happening now http://majornelson.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-architecture-panel/05/21/2013 - 2:20pm

E. Zachary Knight: Some reading material for Microsoft on its used games blocks. That will hurt the console more than helping. http://ezknight.net/?page_id=20505/21/2013 - 2:18pm

james_fudge: yeah good luck with over the air TV05/21/2013 - 2:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: But what if I want to only watch over the air tv? I don't subscribe to pay tv. I never will. If that is a requirement, then MS wasted 45 minutes telling me how great TV will be.05/21/2013 - 2:08pm

james_fudge: EZK it will depend on your provider, just like HBO Go i'd imagine.05/21/2013 - 2:05pm

PHX Corp: @IanC there's also a chance that those titles might be Xbox one exclusive, but it's too early to tell afaik05/21/2013 - 2:03pm

IanC: @E. Zachary Knight - MS certainly got the checkbook out for EA, so no surprise on how negative they are over the Wii U.05/21/2013 - 1:54pm

MaskedPixelante: So now I have to wonder, how many of EA's games are skipping the PS4 because of their pro-used stance?05/21/2013 - 1:53pm

E. Zachary Knight: On the TV front, does the XBox One require a cable/satellite subscription or will I be able to use my over the air channels?05/21/2013 - 1:48pm

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