World of Goo Piracy Is Sky High

World of Goo is a charming game, not too long but good enough to attract those players interested in a puzzle game which uses living goo, with different properties, to tackle different challenges, like crossing a ravine or reaching far away ledges. The problem is that charming indie efforts, that are created without the backing of a big publisher, could disappear if piracy rates remain as high as they are.

2D Boy, the creator of the title, initially estimated that, in the month since the game launched, its piracy rate had reached 90%. The developer looked at the IPs which sent high scores to the leaderboards and then at how many games they sold and the number, which is admittedly a rough estimate, for the piracy rates appeared to be 90%. Some comments from players showed that dynamic IPs and multiple installs could also be factored in, in which case the piracy rate dropped to about 82%.

2D Boy also says that multiple installations that are situated behind the same firewall could be seen as one IP and also points out that some pirates might choose not to submit scores to the leaderboards.

Still, the developers understand that such a high piracy rate does not necessarily equal lost sales. As 2D Boy puts it, “One thing that really jumped out at me was his estimate that preventing 1000 piracy attempts results in only a single additional sale. This supports our intuitive assessment that people who pirate our game aren’t people who would have purchased it had they not been able to get it without paying”.

Also, a comparison made between Ricochet Infinity, which had DRM, and World of Goo, which had none, shows that piracy rates were pretty much the same, suggesting that the effort and money which goes into DRM measures might be essentially wasted. 2D Boy says it will continue creating games which will not feature DRM.