Indie dev explains how pirating his game can actually help
ULTRAKILLAn indie game developer revealed his thoughts on pirating his own games with some perplexing logic that actually works.
A user on X posted a picture of them downloading a program with the text saying they love pirating indie games, sparking a debate among some community members.
The comments underneath the post are filled with people explaining the good and bad sides of pirating games from small developers. Later, the poster claims that they had already purchased the game in question, ULTRAKIL, once before.
In the end, the creator behind ULTRAKILL decided to step forward and state his opinions on pirating his own games. However, their response may not have been what some expected.
“As creator of said game: You should support indies if you can, but culture shouldn’t exist only for those who can afford it,” said Hakita on X. “ULTRAKILL wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t had easy access to movies, music and games growing up. If you don’t have money, you can support via word of mouth.”
This was not the end of Hakita’s response to the conversation, wanting to fill more people in on what it means to have gamers pirating the game, explaining that even “business-minded people” could acknowledge spreading the word about the game leading to a potential sale is the way to operate.
“The more they, the customer, think you’re a cool person, a funny person, the more likely they’ll talk about you, and consequently, your product – unlike if they hate you for your business decisions that affect them,” explained another commenter underneath the post.
Overall, the X post that was sent out mostly as a troll to the community had a positive impact on the community from the game’s developer.