In a move inspired by only the most altruistic Game Dev Tycoon players, Acid Wizard Studios has released a version of their own game on The Pirate Bay. Darkwood, a survival horror game, can now be downloaded completely free by anyone, and there’s exactly no difference between the free version and the $15 Steam version. Why is Acid Wizard Studios doing this?
Basically, it’s because they’re cool guys. They want Darkwood to be available for anyone to play without having to spend a dime, and they want these free players to have a safe version of the game to play without fear of tech infection. In other words, Acid Wizard Studios wants to give people the exact same game experience, regardless of how much money they have. While this is definitely a cool move, it’s also a bit of a message that the studio is trying to send to the game industry, game players and game sellers.
The developers only ask that if you like the game, you buy it at some point down the line, even if it’s just as part of a Humble Bundle. They also specifically ask that you not buy from shady key resellers. This is really the main point of Acid Wizard Studios’s move. They believe that key reselling, not piracy, is the real problem facing game developers, and that key resellers pose a danger to players. In particular, they feel that they can’t give their game away for free in giveaways and promotions if people are just gonna resell them.
It makes sense, too. Someone buying a resold key probably feels they are helping the developer in some way and so do not feel the need to support the studio later on. People who pirate games at least know they’re not helping the developer, so they might actually buy the game later on if they really like it. In this case, people who download the free version of Darkwood will probably feel grateful to the developers and make it a priority to buy a version of the game once they can afford it. Of course, it also makes for a great PR move, as I’ll be on the lookout for the next game from Acid Wizard Studios now.
Acid Wizard Studios is not the first studio to make their content available to torrent for free, but this is still an awesome move to see from a game studio. Check out Darkwood (you have nothing to lose) if you like horror games and you might have a new favorite. Just make sure that if you do like it, you buy it at some point from a legitimate reseller, because we should support studios that make moves like this.
Download Darkwood free and legally (I promise) from The Pirate Bay
