‘Talos Principle’ Locks Pirates In An Elevator, Why One Developer Disagrees
Developers continue to find creative ways to get back at those that pirate their games. CroTeam’s The Talos Principle for the PC is the latest to implement an anti-piracy measure that ensures the illegal copy annoys and frustrates the pants off the person that downloaded it. Not everyone agrees with this approach, however, as one developer thinks there should be a better way to deal with piracy.
The anti-piracy method emerged from the Steam Community (via NeoGAF) for The Talos Principle, when one user complained of becoming stuck in an elevator.
“When I unlocked 2nd floor on the tower, all the elevators have stopped working,” Steam member J.K. wrote in a post. “Whenever I want to get somewhere, it just stops in the middle of the way and I can’t do anything. Does any [have] the same problem? What should I do?”
A member of the Croteam was quick to point out that this user just revealed that they pirated The Talos Principle.
“Congratulations you must be the first one to show to the internet world what Croteam did this time to punish pirates. You should be proud of yourself, it will be all over the internet in about 30 minutes I’d say.”
Well played, @Croteam. Well played. http://t.co/jHO3BiQoPN pic.twitter.com/UYfYXPlbrH
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) December 28, 2014
The Talos Principle isn’t the first time that CroTeam has put an anti-piracy measure in one of their games, nor is it the best. The developer went all out against pirates with the 2011 release of Serious Sam 3. Those detected of running an illegal copy of the fast-paced shooter would be harassed constantly by an extremely fast and immortal giant scorpion monster.
Far Cry 4 is an example of another recent release that uses tricky anti-piracy measures by removing certain features from illegally downloaded copies. IGN compiled a list of some of the most hilarious anti-piracy measures implemented in games over the years. My personal favorite comes from Game Dev Tycoon, where players eventually discover their virtual game development company can’t make money because people keep pirating their games.
Not everyone agrees with the concept of punishing pirates, however. Darwinia and Prison Architect developer Introversion Software believes a different approach is needed to make up for lost sales.
This ‘punish the pirate’ business is silly. You can’t punish someone into a purchase. http://t.co/SDnxd9n7Q0
— IntroversionSoftware (@IVSoftware) December 29, 2014
Drm, pirate punishing/shaming etc, none of it works. How about a new approach: Pirate = Red Hot Sales Lead.
— IntroversionSoftware (@IVSoftware) December 29, 2014
What do you think? Is annoying pirates the right way to go, or should developers find a way to convert pirated games into sales? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via CroTeam, NeoGAF]
