Independent game developer Dicehit Games recently caused discussion due to some remarks. The team that produced “Runeveil” stated that if players feel that the game is too expensive and plan to purchase it through the unofficial Steam Key website, then they would rather players download pirated copies directly. This sentence sounds quite outrageous, but behind it is the developer’s long-term dissatisfaction with the Key resale market.
Those cheap keys may have been given away for free!
Dicehit Games explained that the source of game serial numbers on some unofficial websites may be keys provided by developers for free to media, content creators or other promotional purposes, and then resold on the market. For the development team, not only did these transactions not bring exposure to the game, but they amounted to their goodwill being used for business. To put it bluntly, what the developer gives away for free is transferred to someone else to make money, and in the end the developer has nothing.
Actually it’s not the first time
Dicehit Games isn’t the first developer to take this stance, either. In the past, the development team related to “ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs” and other independent game developers have publicly stated that they would rather players choose piracy than purchase games through the gray key market. The reason is not necessarily to support piracy, but that these unofficial transactions may prevent developers from receiving income, and may even have to deal with issues such as invalid keys, refunds, and fraud.
Players save money, but who makes the profit in the end?
The core of this controversy is actually very simple: players want to buy games at a cheaper price, but developers may not get any money at all. For independent teams, every income is more important than large 3A studios, so there is a seemingly counter-intuitive statement like “If you really want to buy a gray key, you might as well pirate it.” At least in the eyes of developers, letting players play for free seems to be more acceptable than letting third parties make money from their own games.