Android game goes free due to 'unbelievably high' piracy rate
Summary: The Android game Dead Trigger used to cost $0.99. Now it's free. Madfinger Games says it had to relaunch the game as a free app due to an "unbelievably high" piracy rate.
Update on August 2 - Madfinger game goes free on iOS, piracy to blame like on Android?
Madfinger Games has announced the relaunch of its game Dead Trigger, a zombie FPS for smartphones, as a free app. The reason given was simple: piracy rates were out of control. As a result, you can now download the game for free from the official Google Play store: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.madfingergames.deadtrigger.
Many Dead Trigger users who paid for the game are posting angry one-star reviews on the page because the game is now free. Madfinger, for its part, says it was forced to stop charging. Here's the company's statement, released on Facebook:
Regarding price drop. HERE is our statement. The main reason: piracy rate on Android devices, that was unbelievably high. At first we intend to make this game available for as many people as possible - that's why it was for as little as buck. - It was much less than 8$ for SHADOWGUN but on the other hand we didn't dare to provide it for free, since we hadn't got XP with free-to-play format so far. - However, even for one buck, the piracy rate is soooo giant, that we finally decided to provide DEAD TRIGGER for free. Anyway - DEAD TRIGGER is not FREEMIUM, it always was and still remains FREE-TO-PLAY, that means, all players are able to play it without IAP! We stand up for this statement, because all members of our team are playing (and enjoying) DEAD TRIGGER without IAP.
Dead Trigger was originally available on Android for $0.99. It remains available on iOS for the same price. You can grab it from here: itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dead-trigger/id533079551.
Piracy is a serious problem for both platforms, but the general consensus is that the issue is much more serious on Google's Android than it is on Apple's iOS. After you add fragmentation into the mix, many app and game developers find it more difficult to succeed on Android compared to iOS.
There are many reasons given for this large gap. Some say it's because Apple users are simply more willing to spend money than Google users. Others believe that since Android has a larger market share, it also has a larger group of pirates.
I think the problem largely comes down to a much lower barrier to entry: on Android, you can sideload apps after changing a setting in the operating system, while iOS requires you to first jailbreak the operating system. Thankfully, paid app encryption is coming to Android. We'll see soon enough if the feature makes a large enough impact.
Update on August 2 - Madfinger game goes free on iOS, piracy to blame like on Android?
See also:
- Android malware numbers explode to 25,000 in June 2012
- Android malware families nearly quadruple from 2011 to 2012
- Malware charges users for free Android apps on Google Play
- A first: Hacked sites with Android drive-by download malware
- Warning: Fake Biophilla app on Android is malware
- Warning: Fake Instagram app on Android is malware
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Talkback
Of course it's "freemium"
Also, Google Ads are not "free"
bad night sleep?
What?
No, they do not when paid version is available
Have you even seen these ads?
I would argue that iOS and Android apps quality is the same
Since you either don't know ad networks or still think iAd is not a complete failure, all major mobile advertising networks, e.g. admob, millennial media etc., are all cross platform, meaning it doesn't matter you're on iOS or Android if you want to label app freeloaders of their "willing to swallowing advertisement garbage" behavior, it also applies to the both camps.
That is the key: "free" apps are quite bad in because of advertisement
Talk about shooting themselves in the foot...
You Roid losers are pathetic... You whine and make these claims that Roid is so much better (when it clearly isn't) and you keep shooting yourselves in the foot with every app or game you pirate. I don't know why any developer would bother to make any app or game for Roid. It's and ecosystem full of pathetic loser pirates. (note I didn't say all of the Roiders are losers, some are just ignorant non-techies, I simply said it was full of pathetic loser pirates).
read
you're right
Cry us a river
The benchmark has been set pretty low, and now the end-users are conditioned to expect "free". After all, you can get a free office suite instead of paying for MS Office. Who really thinks someone is going lose sleep over pirating a $1 game because a "free" version isn't available? No one.
Yeah right, it's open source fault.
In other words, I would ask for actual proof of your statement, as the facts surrounding the humble indie bundle tell a very different tale than you.
Lets face it....
I agree 100%
When you have a group who is mostly cheap people, what you get is people who would pirate even a $0.01 app to save the penny. It is also the reason why Android has such a high level of infection .... cheap people will install what ever pirated crap they can find just to save $0.99
Arrogant
And yes I am regulary buying apps from the Andoid app store, paying 99c is much easier than trying to pirate something.
Ignorant
You're an exception to the 'roid rule since you have a home and family. Most 'roids are in High School and act that way.
Not worth it Gr8Music...
Some people have fallen into the trap of thinking that going against popular opinion defines them as a rebel. They don't realize that we all see them going against common sense and we see them as morons and not the rebels they think are.
Good God
LOL