Piracy Cripples iOS Game in Less than a Week

Monday December 3, 2012 7:18 pm PST by Juli Clover

When software piracy is mentioned, it is usually in reference to PC games and movies downloaded off of illegal sites. Very little attention is given to the piracy of iOS games, which has become a huge problem for some developers.

Hunted Cow, the team behind the title Battle Dungeon, was forced to shut down its game this afternoon because the servers could not handle the load created by significant numbers of pirated copies of the game. Here’s what the team told fans:

Unfortunately we have taken Battle Dungeon down for the forseeable future. This was due to high levels of server load created by large numbers of pirated copies of the game. The high load revealed technical issues which we don’t feel we can fix to the level that our paying customers deserve.

In a forum post, the developers went on to explain that after a pirated .ipa surfaced on the internet, the number of people joining the game multiplied. As they were not paying customers, Hunted Cow was left without resources to maintain the server. Battle Dungeon, which is no longer available in the App Store, was a game that impressed app review site Touch Arcade.

Battle Dungeon offered up gameplay in the vein of Outwitters [Free] and Hero Academy [Free], with a 3D environment, XCOM style action points and an RPG twist. The ability to level up characters and buy better equipment was balanced against a point-cost system in which having more powerful champions meant playing with fewer of them. It was an appealing package for anyone who wanted more “crunch” and micromangement out of their async strategy games.

Players who invested money in the game will have the opportunity to get a refund by contacting support, which will include the $4.99 purchase price and any cash spent on in-app purchase.

Top Rated Comments

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rdlink

Posted: 18 months ago

i pirate games, and if i like them i'll buy them. if i dont i delete the game.

Then you're a thief.

Rating: 57 Positives

chrono1081

Posted: 18 months ago

But but but, piracy doesn't hurt anyone since its just a copy and people who won't really play it wont buy it! (Says internet idiots who never actually created anything.)

Its sad to see this happen. Piracy really does hurt the little guy more then people realize.

People deserve to be paid for their work. Period.

Rating: 53 Positives

mrsir2009

Posted: 18 months ago

i pirate games, and if i like them i'll buy them. if i dont i delete the game.

Then why don't you go down to the store, shoplift a pair of headphones, then if you like them go back and pay for them, or if you don't chuck them out?

Rating: 47 Positives

Bchagey

Posted: 18 months ago

Support your favorite game developers. Buy the game!

Rating: 45 Positives

notjustjay

Posted: 18 months ago

A crappy thing indeed, but if they're refunding 100% of the money they earned from the legit users, won't he be losing money, as they've obviously had costs along the way? :/

Yup. What a shame. You work so hard and put hours into the development of a game, spending a lot of money to do so. You briefly get excited because, hey, people LOVE what you did and the money starts coming in. And then, this. You end up refunding everybody, shutting it down, all your hard work is down the toilet AND you lost money in the process.

How likely are you to work on that second great idea you had?

Piracy DOES hurt, folks. Pay for your software.

Rating: 27 Positives

bpran

Posted: 18 months ago

If they can differentiate between pirated copy and original copy of the client software, why don't they just restrict access to the server for the pirated one?

Rating: 26 Positives

mrsir2009

Posted: 18 months ago

Pirates are cowards. Traditionally you had to have some balls to steal something, (in real life) but to pirate something via the internet requires nothing at all. They do it because there's little risk and they never have to face the people they steal from.

Rating: 17 Positives

ZacNicholson

Posted: 18 months ago

i pirate games, and if i like them i'll buy them. if i dont i delete the game.

Rating: 16 Positives

topmounter

Posted: 18 months ago

This story is just a little too neat and tidy to be 100% believable... In that viral marketing sort of way.

Especially considering there is no shortage of wildly popular paid multiplayer games that have figured out how to deal with the "piracy issue" and haven't had to shut down.

When this game goes back up on the app store, it will once again be in the headlines and sales will skyrocket.

Rating: 12 Positives

mrsir2009

Posted: 18 months ago

I'm willing to pay double the asking price of this game to the developer to help them come up with a way to fight the pirates. It's sad that all these app purchasers would LET the pirates win like this. Fight back dammit!

Pirates ruin everything for everyone. Thanks to them we've had to put up with annoying anti-piracy measures like having to put a game's DVD in every single frickin' time you play the game. Grr.

Rating: 12 Positives

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