In news concerning Minecraft, or at least the person behind it, developer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has stated that the concept of equating those who pirate games as thieves is wrong.
Explaining his belief during the closing session at GDC’s Indie Games Summit yesterday, he said, "If you steal a car, the orginal is lost. If you copy a game, there are simply more of them."
Persson also said, "There is no such thing as a ‘lost sale.’ Is a bad review a lost sale? What about a missed ship date?"
Further, he stated that people want to do the fair and right thing and that developers should not see pirates as evil but potenial customers.
Drawing on his sucess with Minecraft, Persson offerd advice to others:
"Treat game development as a service. Make a game last longer then a week. You can’t pirate an online account."
While there is wisdom to his words, one may hold the belief that he sounds like an optimist.
[Next-Gen]
