The makers of Hotline Miami have asked pirates to update torrents of the game when the first patch is released.
So you’re a struggling indie game developer and you’ve just released your first game through a relatively well-known publisher to widespread critical acclaim, yet despite the fact that it’s only ten bucks there are still jerks out there who insist on pirating it. What do you do? You could get mad, I suppose, or you could get even. Or you could nip over to the Pirate Bay, give them a few ideas on how to work around bugs and ask them to update the torrent when the patch becomes available.
That’s what Hotline Miami developer Jonatan Soderstrom did in response to complaints that some torrents of the game aren’t running properly. “Hey there! I’m Jonatan Soderstrom, me and my friend Dennis Wedin made this game,” he wrote. “We’re working on an update that hopefully will take care of any/all bugs, and we’ll try to do some extra polish in the next few days. Would be great if you could update the torrent when the patch is out! It’d be great if people get to play it without any bugs popping up.”
He also offered a possible workaround for a common startup bug, provided links to the Microsoft VS distributable and 360 controller drivers for Windows and then later made note of a new patch on GOG and Steam that clears up a number of bugs. “If possible update the torrent and description with these links and the new build. I want anyone who plays the game to be able to enjoy it without stupid bugs that detract from the experience,” he wrote. “Feel free to buy it if you like the game. It would help allowing me and Dennis to make more ‘big’ projects like this in the future.”
Explaining his magnanimity on Twitter, Soderstrom said, “I don’t really want people to pirate Hotline Miami, but I understand if they do. I’ve been broke the last couple of months. It sucks. And I definitely want people to experience the game the way it’s meant to be experienced. No matter how they got a hold of it.”
That’s a pretty solid dude right there, folks. Pirate the game if you must, but it’s $9.99 on Steam and only $8.99 right now on GOG. You can’t go too wrong at that price.
Source: The Pirate Bay, via PC Gamer
