My default position on piracy is that it's bad and you shouldn't do it. Entertainment has value, and if you are entertained then you should be willing to pay for it. That said, I also acknowledge that it's not always a simple, black-and-white situation. Which brings us to the story of Danger Gazers, "a post-apocalyptic roguelite top-down shooter" released earlier this month that saw a big boost in sales after its developer uploaded it to The Pirate Bay.
Danger Gazers is $10 on Steam, but if you don't feel like dropping a tenner, that's okay too. "This torrent was officially brought to you by ShotX. This is the latest DRM-free version of Danger Gazers (1.1.0), there's no catch here, no Steam only features, just the fully functional game," the torrent description says. "As a developer, my only request would be to consider supporting and buying in case you like Danger Gazers and want more indie games in the future."
The developer, Shota Bobokhidze, went deeper into his reasons for sharing the game on TPB last week on Reddit. "There are people who can't afford the game, some want to play the game before buying, some that never buy games. Just trying to help those people out and make the best of the situation," he wrote.
"There are a lot of ways to show support if you want to without buying the game, such as spreading the word about DG, sharing the torrent, feedback, whatever it is you can come up with. And finally, I hope you have fun and enjoy the game!"
The TPB release wasn't a "planned PR move," Bobokhidze told TorrentFreak, and he didn't promote it on social media or his studio website, as he wanted to reach out to the pirate community specifically. Nonetheless, the response so far has been "amazing," There's also been "a noticeable boost in sales," which he specified to Polygon as a 400 percent increase in sales over launch day.
"And it didn’t stop there, some kind individuals went out of their way to donate more than twice as much (as the $10 purchase price) and I received countless emails from all the people who showed their support," he said. "I'm thankful that my message was clear and thankful for all the support."
The Steam numbers are still dire: Steam Charts indicates that Danger Gazers' all-time peak concurrent player count is 7, which isn't great. But it's also available (and currently on sale) on Itch.io, which is apparently where supporters ponied up extra cash. (Itch.io enables purchasers to pay more than the list price for games if they want to.) Bobokhidze said in his Discord server that he's also planning on setting up a Patreon so fans can support ShotX's work more easily.