In a PC gaming world filled with DRM and CD key checks, Zeno Clash, a new first person shooter/fighting hybrid from independent gaming development studio ACE team, has taken a new approach.
Appearing on a popular torrent tracker site, Carlos Bordeu, asked all the would be pirates to support his game as this is the only way his game and his company can survive an an independent studio:
I"m one of the developers of Zeno Clash. I would appreciate you read this if you are about to download this file.
Zeno Clash is an independently funded game by a very small and sacrificed group of people. The only way in which we can continue making games like this (or a sequel) is to have good sales.
I am aware that at this moment there is still no demo of the game, but we are working on one which will be available soon.
We cannot do anything to stop piracy of the game (and honestly don"t intend to do so) but if you are downloading because you wish to try before you buy, I would ask that you purchase the game (and support the independent game development scene) if you enjoy it. We plan on updating Zeno Clash with DLC and continuing support for the game long after it"s release.
Thanks for taking the time to read this... hopefully it will make a difference.
Carlos Bordeu
ACE Team
The comment was met with a lot of respect, and a lot of would be pirates said that they would support the studio and purchase the game. And why not?
The game so far has received an impressive 83 percentile rating on Metacritic and can be purchased on Steam for $20. Perhaps human decency and just asking for support is the next best DRM tool against pirates.