iPhone Game Developer Combats Piracy by Inserting Advertisement in Paid Version of Game.
(1888PressRelease) November 30, 2009 - ROSENBERG, Texas - Within just hours of being available on Apple’s App Store the new iTankster game for the iPhone and iPod touch had been released on websites by pirates for free download and installation on Jailbroken devices. In order to combat this rampant piracy the developer decided to release the game with a single static advertisement from a sponsor which is displayed in the menu screen.
The developers of the game originally planned on releasing iTankster at an introductory price of just $0.99 ad-free and believed that since it was priced so low users would purchase it without resorting to piracy. However, they discovered during the development of the game, that other applications were pirated regardless of how low they were priced. Upon further research, it showed that in some instances the number of people installing an application or game illegally far outnumbered the legally purchased version of the same.
Piracy of the game would have impacted the revenue projection and recovery of development costs for the developer drastically; as a result they were compelled to tie up with a sponsor to recover some of the expenses. This decision was taken by the developers as they felt it would be better than increasing the price of the game and risk deterring users from making legal purchases.
iTankster has a single advertisement from the sponsor in the menu screen of the game, featuring in both the legally paid as well as the resulting pirated versions. This will ensure that even the pirates will see an advertisement. The developer is hopeful that the pirates will support the game by either clicking on the sponsor advertisement or by paying for the game later. While placing of an advertisement is bound to cause a controversy among some users who feel that if they paid for an application it should be advertisement free, the vast majority understand that in today’s world with rampant piracy developers have to look at alternative means to earn revenue for recovering the cost of development.
“Pirates have become smarter and more proficient, today security put in place to protect a device or software is often broken within hours of being released. Unless tough action is taken to curb this problem or the platform is secured, we as developers have no options but to look for alternative channels of income, otherwise developing an application becomes highly unprofitable. A company isn’t likely to put in time, effort and money for Software which they know will be distributed free the next day” says a member from iTankster. The developer strongly believes that the Apple platform is absolutely the best and is hopeful that the issues get addressed in the upcoming upgrades.
Until rampant piracy is resolved, the insertion of ads within the game or application allows the developer to keep the price low on the Apple App Store and help them recover their costs. This is especially true for small developers who rely solely on sales via the Apple App Store to recover the cost of developing their application. Unless Apple secures the iPhone and iPod Touch from being Jailbroken it is likely that an increasing number of developers might turn to advertisements within their paid applications.
iTankster is on sale at $0.99 at the App Store and iTunes for more details log onto www.iTankster.com
Note: Apple, iTunes and Apple App Store are registered trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
iPhone Game Developer Combats Piracy by Inserting Advertisement in Paid Version of Game. 
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