Hotline Miami creator Jonatan Söderström recently assisted Pirate Bay users who were illegally torrenting his game for free, ensuring that they could at least play the proper patched version. VG247 spoke with the developer to get this thoughts on his move, and to elaborate on the wider issue.
Speaking to VG247 as part of an incoming interview, Söderström said, “I’m not making games to make money. I do want to make money, but it’s not my major intention with my creativity. I just like expressing myself, making cool stuff, and like, if you don’t want to pay for the game but want to play it anyway, I’m not going to stop people from doing that.”
Last week the developer took to the Pirate Bay to aid users in torrenting the game, so that they would at least receive a version that better reflected Söderström quality standard.
He continued, “I prefer if they play a version of the game that isn’t bugged out, so they get a good impression of it. I don’t want people to pirate the game or anything like that, but I know it’s an issue and there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m not sure I want to do anything about it, but I just want want people to enjoy the game.”
Söderström also took to Twitter to state that he had been ‘broke’ for a while, and that he had no desire to aid piracy, but that he couldn’t stop it.
Clarifying his financial stance to VG247 he said, “I want to make enough money to make bigger games, and that’ probably not something I’m able to do if I have to get a job, and of course I want to be able to pay rent and buy food from what I do. So, we’re looking to make another game as soon as possible, and hopefully it will turn out as good as Hotline Miami.”
What do you think of Söderström’s approach to Hotline Miami piracy? Is there more the industry can do to safeguard fledgling indies, or is a losing battle? Let us know below.
Stay tuned for our full interview next week.
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