An indie game developers seeing his beloved game being pirated on torrent sites didn't reach for the phone to call his lawyer, but instead, offered up free game keys and even advice on a better version of his game to offer to pirates.
Jacob Janerka, developer of the game 'Paradigm,' found a cracked version of his game on The Pirate Bay. What Jacob did next, however, was completely unexpected.
Jacob immediately posted a comment for the pirated download. Instead of a take-down demand, or threats of legal action, Jacob did the next best thing: offered up free serial keys for his games.
"Hey everyone, I'm Jacob the creator of Paradigm. I know some of you legitimately can't afford the game and I'm glad you get to still play it :D," read the comment.
"If you like the game, please tell your friends and maybe even consider buying it later," Jacob added.
It was then that Jacob posted a few extra game keys for those interested in playing his game.
Jacob did have a complaint aimed at the uploader though.
"Also dauphong, why did you not upload the DRM free version? I feel that would of been way easier haha," continued Jacob.
TorrentFreak spoke to the generous Jacob and asked him why he wasn't angry at pirates "stealing" his hard work.
"I know for sure that when I was a young kid, I was unable to buy all the games I wanted and played pirated games. And when I actually got that disposable income, I ended up buying sequels/merch/extra copies," Jacob explained.
"Maybe I lost a few sales or whatever, but people liking your game can be just as valuable. Realistically, most people who pirated it, wouldn't have played it anyway, so its neat that more people get to experience it, when they wouldn’t have otherwise," he said.
If you welcome Jacob's novel approach to dealing with piracy and would like to support this initiative, you can purchase Paradigm at the official site.
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