Crytek Manages Not To Lose Their Minds Despite Crysis 2 Leak
from the baby-steps,-baby-steps,-baby-steps dept
Leaks happen. They just do. They're unfortunate, they're rarely complete products, and it's understandable that a content producer would be less than thrilled about it. But they happen. Time and time again, we witness examples of content companies losing their minds over these leaks, whether it's Ubisoft murdering their reputation by reacting to leaks with ineffective DRM, or Fox taking a long hard look at how the leaked version of Wolverine did nothing to stymie huge box office returns and therefore decided to get the FBI involved to arrest the leaker. It seems that when these leaks happen, the reaction is emotional rather than cognitive.
Enter Crytek, developer of the immensely anticipated Crysis 2 game. As was seemingly inevitable, Edge was among others that reported the game was leaked. And not just some early build of the game either, but rather both versions (the 3D version and the non-3D version) were made available via torrent sites. The download included the full games (requiring nearly a full blu-ray disk's worth of storage for the 3D version), online capability, and even the DRM signing keys.
So, we all know what the reaction was coming from Crytek execs, right? Piracy killed them, left them bleeding in a gutter, the victim of a violent crime. The sky is falling. The action allowed a wormhole to open up and demons are now killing our women and children. Puppies everywhere keeled over dead. America has fallen to the terrorists/communists/atheists/robots/Satan/etc. Corn farmers everywhere are committing mass ritual suicide, knowing that they'll never earn a livable wage. Right?
Turns out, not so much. Harken back to what Mike suggested about how Fox should have responded to the Wolverine leak:
"Hey Wolverine fans! We know that you're all looking forward to the release of the movie next month. We're excited too! By now you may have heard that an early totally unfinished version has been leaked online. It's missing a whole bunch of stuff -- including some amazing special effects -- and honestly, this version isn't a finished product at all. We think you'll get a much better overall experience by waiting for the full finished product, but we certainly understand that some of you just can't wait (trust us, we feel the same way!). If that's the case, please, feel free to check it out, but please remember that this isn't even close to the final version. If anything, think of this as a "behind-the-scenes" peek of just what a movie looks like before all the real "movie magic" gets put in there. If you do check it out, we hope you'll join us May 1st to check out the finalized version as well on the big screen the way we intended for you to see this awesome movie. It's just a month away!"
In this case, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli actually did make a similarly reasonable address to the company's fans on the Crysis 2 forums:
"Despite this unfortunate incident, we can assure you that PC gaming is very important to us and will always be important to Crytek in the future. We are all still focused on delivering a great gaming experience to our true and honest fans. I hope you will enjoy Crysis 2 on PC, as we think it is our best PC game yet!"
Huh. You know what, that actually sounds eerily similar to Mike's suggestion. Maybe not quite so optimistic and glowing, but pretty damn close. And I think this message is perfect. Tell the fans that, while you don't approve of what happened, they're still important to you, you're going to create for their PC gaming needs, and even throw in a comment about rewarding their dedication as real, paying fans. Perfect. And judging by the response from the company's fans in the comments section of the forum, his notes are ringing true with them.
So cheers to you, Cevat. You could have gone crazy and reacted emotionally, but you didn't. You made a reasoned statement. While it's sad that such level-headedness is rare enough to deserve note, I salute you nonetheless.
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Filed Under: crysis 2, leaks, piracy, response
Companies: crytek
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When it sells at a lower rate than the previous one, will there be a bunch of people on Techdirt claiming the economy is bad or that they made a killing on t-shirts?
Usually when these things don't turn out the way they are expected, we don't see them on Techdirt, which is why there is no discussion of Radiohead's new album ($15 or so to download, no freebies!). So I suspect that if this game sells lower than the last time, we won't have Tim back chatting about it either.
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1) Those that will pirate the game, will pirate it
2) The ones that want to support this game will do so, despite the leak.
3) The options of stopping the leak or accepting it and moving on will change the public view of the company involved.
4) Maybe, just maybe, Crytek has found something else they can ADD to the game to make the ones that want to support them value the paid version even more? Just sayin...
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1) You are correct, but now the people who might not have pirated it but who really want to play it will do so now. Maybe they will be bored enough of it not to pay for it when it comes out.
2) see #1. The sub-text of course is that a whole extra group of people will learn to pirate rather than buy.
3) They have few options, but that doesn't make it suck less.
4) At a late release point, it is unlikely they will recall physical product and re-burn discs to add in a level or section they didn't consider worthy of the original version.
Basically, they are burned. They are doing what most people tell crime victims to do, "don't struggle, you will only make it worse". But it doesn't make the overall situation better.
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The finished game is still not out. The leaked version is incomplete--if people want the full version they'll have to wait and pirate that, or just buy it.
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I don't see a single thing beyond supposition in your entire post. Wolverine did massive numbers. Why weren't they you're violent crime victim that you described above, DESPITE all of their "struggling"?
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You call me out on that, yet you are willing to except Mike's upsupport supposition that "piracy helps sales", with absolutely no proof beyond his opinion and a collection of studies that cannot link the two directly.
Oh yeah, Lobo, it is a "development version" with everything, including the 3D version. What is the due date again?
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Who in the world are you talking to? I don't accept Mike's suppositions as fact about much of anything. I've been pretty clear on this site time and time again about several things:
1. There are a lot of unknowns
2. Hard data trumps all
3. I'm not a copyright abolitionist
I'm not sure who you're confusing me with, but you are confused.
"with absolutely no proof beyond his opinion and a collection of studies that cannot link the two directly."
Again, I think I've made my position clear: there isn't definitive proof either way. I certainly believe there are situations where piracy has had a negative effect on total sales. I also firmly believe there have been cases where the opposite has occurred. I even wrote about them on this very site:
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110120/06393612743/taking-long-view-app-de veloper-happy-that-piracy-doubled-his-sales.shtml
Cookie cutter answers? Certainly not. But perhaps we can use all the facts and examples in evidence to formulate a more nuanced opinion not only of piracy and its effects in the here and now, but our reactions to it and how that can have a more global effect on our business and reputation.
"Oh yeah, Lobo, it is a "development version" with everything, including the 3D version. What is the due date again?"
What point are you trying to make here? Just as the Wolverine leak was an unfinished version, so was this. Are you truly pretending that there isn't a "whet the appetite" scenario that may well be at play here?
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The "app developer" story is good, but proves only that he didn't have enough publicity going on about his product. Any publicity is better than no publicity, he had little to lose. It would be interesting though to follow up 90 days later to see the true overall effects.
There are no cookie cutter answers, but there is plenty of indications of what piracy has done to recorded music. It is hard to ignore (unless you swallow the alternate theories).
As for the "whet the appetite" idea, the same could be accomplished by the company deciding to release a single level demo. It's something that should be in the hands of the people who are writing and selling the game, not some dufus with a torrent site. That guy should consider himself lucky that he isn't getting a legal reaming about now. Sadly, this will likely encourage him to do it again the next time, which is the start of the slippery slope.
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I can't speak for others on this site, but I've seen some of those same reports. And? Recorded music as a viable medium of sale is becoming obsolete. Further, I certainly won't point solely to concert ticket sales, although are a good metric for money still being spent on concerts (prices going up and people are still going? Sweet!). Rather, I'd more point to a combination of the downturn of the global ecnomoy coupled with competing interests for people's time as the likely culprit for your record sales losses....
"The "app developer" story is good, but proves only that he didn't have enough publicity going on about his product. Any publicity is better than no publicity, he had little to lose. It would be interesting though to follow up 90 days later to see the true overall effects."
That's a fair point and I'd be interested in seeing a follow up sales report as well. I'll see if I can dig anything up. By the way, your conclusion isn't the ONLY thing it proves. It also proves that in at least some scenarios over some periods of time, "piracy" can likely have a net benefit. That's important, since it keeps us from falling into false dichotomy arguments.
"There are no cookie cutter answers, but there is plenty of indications of what piracy has done to recorded music. It is hard to ignore (unless you swallow the alternate theories)."
No, I swallow nothing, not the alternate theories, nor yours, nor the industries, nor the so called piracy supporters. I weigh evidence as it comes in. Everything I've seen, in my estimation at least, indicates that globally piracy is probably closer to a net wash than anything else. In which case, in general, chances are you're better off not even worrying about it....
"As for the "whet the appetite" idea, the same could be accomplished by the company deciding to release a single level demo."
Sure, but that has costs. Perhaps this was unintentionally better?
"It's something that should be in the hands of the people who are writing and selling the game, not some dufus with a torrent site."
Ha! I happen to agree with you! In a perfect world, people should respect the creator's wishes. It's an area where me and some others in the Techdirt community are probably at odds. However, since we already agreed that wishing in one hand doesn't produce anything....
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Welcome to progress. We, the customers, no longer need a middle man to get the music, created by the artists, to our ears. Those middle men, and a few *rare* super-artists, have a really good run, and made a staggering amount of money, for a few decades. They saw a market and did an amazing job filling the market's needs.
Unfortunately for them, the needs of the market are changing. This is not up for debate, it is a fact. Technology has progressed to the point where making money solely from selling recordings is impossible. People used to pay for people to bring ice to their houses to keep their food cold. It was a lucrative business, once you paid for all the equipment, as it was just solid water you were selling. Obviously, the equipment needed to do this was not affordable to the average person. Luckily, technology progressed and the equipment needed to freeze water became very cheap and very compact, and these ice delivery men found themselves in a position where their function was no longer needed. If it had happened today, I have a feeling that we would suddenly have laws outlawing making ice at home, or some other such nonsense.
The usual answer is "but look at live music sales", but that usually falls down when people point out that concert ticket prices have skyrockets, and are now dropping due to lack of buyers.
So, you're complaining that people will stop buying something if the price exceeds what they're willing to pay for it? With all respect, I *really* hope you're not in any position of power over anything doing with business, because you clearly have forgotten how it all works.
The most probable outcome is going to be that the era of the superstar will pass and the ability to buy planes and mansions and gold-plated shark tanks from making music will become a thing we'll tell our grandkids about. (They probably won't believe us, either. Darn kids!)
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FTFY
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Oooor, it could be ... you know ... real simple.
If you're trying to sell Model T Fords in a world where the customers want to buy Prius, your buisness will tank.
Digital music sales without DRM do real good, what doesn't sell is CD's because the customer no longer wants them.
Record companies refuse to adapt to the reality they exist in and they're dying because of it.
It's no longer a sustainable model to sell two good tracks and the rest 'filler' on an album, since with digital sales the customer will simply just buy the good tracks and ignore the filler.
Piracy is not the music industrys problem : stupidity is.
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Oh yeah, they don't want to pay for it, because they know they can pirate it.
Your model-t argument would be valid if they weren't pirating label stuff, and instead were going wild for something else. But really, they want the model-t, they want it so bad they are willing to break the law to get it.
BTW, how do you explain Radiohead selling their new album (8 songs, I think) online for about $15, with no free downloads? Are they suddenly doing it wrong?
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Gosh, I didn't realise the whole philosophy was do what Radiohead do, so if Radiohead do something contrary then the philosophy is bust.
Radiohead can like everyone else do what they like, if they do smart stuff, they will get praised for doing so. If they do really dumb stuff, they will get criticised.
If they do meh, nothing special, probably no one will say anything.
In fact, what Radiohead are doing :
The album is available in two formats, the digital $9 MP3 version or a deluxe edition the band calls a “newspaper album” that will be shipped to customers on May 9 and comes with two vinyl records, a CD and artwork, at a cost of $48.
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Yet, they make their next record (short of songs, only 8, and it took a long time) and boom, everything has a price. (the $9 is the compressed mp3 version, the wav file version is $14).
What you have is pretty simple: They made money last time, but probably figured out they left a ton of money on the table.
As poster children for "new business models" they are sort of backing away from it. Not only are they not doing "pay what you want", they have also signed an up front distribution deal because they know that they make a ton of money selling shiny plastic discs all over the world.
Basically, they went back to the same models record labels have used for years. Are you surprised?
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If this were the movie business they distributors would be crying because making the digital download versions available first "would interfere with the physical sales"
So they are still experimenting, which is fine and dandy.
Neither Mike nor anyone here has to justify what decisions individuals make about how to market their product.
We will praise people who do something innovative that takes into account the real world situation, castigate people who think that suing or falsely restricting access are sustainable or even functional business models.
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You hit the nail on the head - it is the people that put the value on music. Not the greedy shysters in their corporate lairs.
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Ohh, hold on, didn't it gross over a billion in less than a month.
Wow, just imagine how much it would have made without piracy.
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Well I've seen the leak and all but there's a problem...
It needs more bbq sauce.
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2) If EA's spore debacle taught the world anything, it's that if you frustrate the customer enough, they WILL pirate the game in massive numbers. So what if they learn how to pirate it? They get an advanced copy and can make a better informed decision if they want to spend $60+ on the game.
3) I see the positives. Positive rep, people can see that the game looks good and it's not vaporware, and now, after all of the hype, they can decide if they want to purchase.
4) DLC for the added customer, a special USB to those that register, a book that details some added secrets... I can go on...
Look, now I can go on Youtube and watch it without ever paying for the game. I do this with a lot of good games that I just don't have the time for. I doubt it's really hurt them when their situation actually increases the hype around the game.
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2) see #1. The sub-text of course is that a whole extra group of people will learn to pirate rather than buy. - From the fantasy land of the AC's. Just sounded good in your head, huh?
3) They have few options, but that doesn't make it suck less. - And their response was perfect.
4) At a late release point - They can add a lot that does not need to be on the CD.
"They are doing what most people tell crime victims to do, "don't struggle, you will only make it worse" - Comparing it to rape now I see. See... not acting like whining little bitches does make it better.
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5) People out there who didn't know about this game and wouldn't have bought it have come across the leak, and would buy it because they realize it is worth the money. (And I didn't come across the leak, but have heard people here say it was better than Crysis, which some of us bought and didn't like, and we'll buy the new one because others say it is better than the one we did buy and didn't like.)
I don't like the DRM, but I may buy it now that others have seen it and thought it was better than Crysis (a game I bought and didn't like much.)
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Yeah, because sequels always sell for as much or more than the previous game.
Look, if you'd like to know how much this sort of thing costs a company, just setup a laboratory experiment. Have two companies, one will be the "control" and the other will be the "variable". They can make and release amazingly similar games, except you have the "variable" company's game leak ahead of time.
Whining about what you don't understand isn't a good way to learn anything. You have to ask questions, study, learn, think.
Good first try though.
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Or profits them.
We all know that if they go on to make a hojillion dollars with Crysis 2, the shills will be back with "But, but, but they certainly would have made two hojillion dollars had it not been leaked first!"
Funny how "we'll never know" only comes up on the side of the debate interested in tallying "losses", isn't it?
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I bring this up cause there was a recent article about the whole issue in eurogamer.
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In UK, prices are £6 for album in mp3, £9 in wav
In US, prices are $9 for album in mp3, $14 in wav
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Correction:
http://www.geek.com/articles/games/killzone-3-leaked-41-4gb-torrent-appears-on-file-sharing-ne tworks-20110214/
Crysis was a leaked developer build, but it had the signing keys
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2011/02/12/crysis-2-leaked/1
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Doesn't matter
"We are all still focused on delivering a great gaming experience to our true and honest fans." THAT'S what is important - Make good games.
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What in sweet Mary's vagina are you TALKING ABOUT? Smugness? We're celebrating the damn company....
"Leaks do happen, this is true. And they shouldn't."
And yet they do. People might wish they wouldn't because they "shouldn't", but poop in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up first....
"And they you will look down on any company that doesn't immediately go "Don't worry about it, it's all good" when their property is stolen and released to entitled brats who feel they have a right to access whatever content they want for free is just offensive."
Entitled brats? Did you even LOOK at the link I provided to the community's response on their forums? They were head over heels in LOVE with Crytek because of this response. They were pledging to buy the game all over the place. The company endeared itself to the true fans and we're celebrating them for it. At least I am, because I absolutely adore how they responded....
"I think Cevat's response was a good one, I also think he has every right to be steaming mad"
Uh, I said as much in my opening paragraph....
"especially when people like you try to vilify him for it."
I have to ask, and I mean this with the utmost sincerity: have you ever played football? The reports coming out about chronic encepholopathy and its effect on cognitive ability may well explain how you read a post where I spent the entire piece CELEBRATING Cevat and you came away thinking I somehow vilified him.
Seriously, get help. Get it now....
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I don't think that you should mention playing football. Football is a gang activity (two groups of people in different colors trying to encroach on someone else's turf). If you put gangs and pirates in the same thread there's a good chance the fuzz will come find you.
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Then go away. Nobody makes you come here. If you keep coming back, then you must work on you own personality flaws, because you have issues we cannot resolve here.
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I read about this before
I can tell you that I won't be buying it. I also won't be downloading it. I don't care about it at all. Though I would kinda like to see if my 2 year old laptop could play it. Probably not, it only has 1G of VRAM.
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Re: I read about this before
I missed that. Who discussed killing babies?
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Another one 'doing it right'
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2011/02/21/sbt.lady.gaga.sensation.hln?hpt=C2
Instead, she embraced it.
MPAA and RIAA have a lot to learn here.
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This one's for you...
'beer' is because I'm not sure if I can actually use Bud Light here... I don't want to get sued...
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Re: This one's for you...
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Isn't Crytek in a good position to get back in front of the leak through version control? Can't they add tighter and/or different controls to the official release and then only update those copies? Going further, can't they value-add to the legitimate version to encourage purchase once the illegitimate version becomes obselete? The fact that people will pay 10, 20, 100% more for limited editions of games with extra guns or plastic figurines would suggest that offering a kick-a$$ online map not available to Crisis 2 version 1.0 users would be a successful strategy to get the downloaders onside.
That's assuming of course the company hasn't flown off the handle and called them too many names - which is great to see hasn't happened yet.
Of course, perhaps none of that is possible; I don't know the details of what was 'released'.
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It's by no means done, but it is pretty good to watch. Obviously, it makes them work a lot harder to appease their fans, but I think that should be the end result, not a cry about piracy.
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Seriously enough of the stupid piracy is killing music...
It's called supply and demand, there is more good music, more good art which lowers costs overall. It's happened over and over throughout history. Before printing presses books were prohibitive, before plastics items would cost more than 10 pennies to produce. Did you miss the whole advertising lifestyles to create values aspect of advertising?
Monopolies, which is what copyright and patents are, are created specifically to deprive people of a natural instinct and RIGHT to copy and create. Stop calling monopolies that lose control theft.
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Speaking for myself...
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As for me...
This is what happens when you treat the customers like people rather than purchasing automatons. You gain their support, and even their loyalty.
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It's finally catching up to them...
The time for using the vacuum on my wallet is over.
Get over it. Adapt or die.
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