...just out of interest, can someone give us a ballpark figure of how many copies of WoG have been sold to date?

Well I think a pretty good indication is building a really low tower in the WoG Corporation level where it displays your rank. Looks like there is currently about 70,000 players who are ranked--not sure if that includes both PC and WiiWare, however.

I surely hope they've sold that many but I have a bad feeling that a large number of those are taking advantage of the non DRM component  :(

May have to divide that figure by up to 3, to account for the 3 user slots within the game though.

Hopefully the variance between actual sales and those registering scores isn't too depressing for Kyle & Ron. They've treated their actual and potential customers with a respect (no DRM and respectable pricing) that I'd like to believe hasn't been misplaced.

I eagerly look forward to supporting their future efforts either with WoG II (hint hint) or a similarly enjoyable and unique experience.

[quote author=Thermal Ions link=topic=537.msg4084#msg4084 date=1224749571]
May have to divide that figure by up to 3, to account for the 3 user slots within the game though.

Hopefully the variance between actual sales and those registering scores isn't too depressing for Kyle & Ron. They've treated their actual and potential customers with a respect (no DRM and respectable pricing) that I'd like to believe hasn't been misplaced.

I eagerly look forward to supporting their future efforts either with WoG II (hint hint) or a similarly enjoyable and unique experience.


I dislike DRM, but I'm not a rabid fool.  Unfortunately the fact is too many people steal -- especially when the door is wide open, such as with WoG -- and the big hoopla against DRM seems to come from such a small amount of people.  If 2D Boy gets screwed sales-wise, I hope next time they do secure their property.  But here's hoping there are enough honest folks.

P.S.: while the Wii version is fun, the lack of leaderboards sucks.  Anxiously awaiting Mac version...

i don't now of any leaderboards YET for the PC version, besides the clouds.  Haven't seen a link to the non-beta ones.

But for $5 cheaper, I won't complain.  :D

well, I hope this is a big hit, and I hope people DON'T steal it off 2d Boy.. I'm from a group of gamers against DRM and we've been promoting the hell out of it to people. (and personally I've yelled at someone when they suggested pirating it irl) 2d boy deserve to make tons of money out of this.

[quote author=noethis link=topic=537.msg4072#msg4072 date=1224742850]
Well I think a pretty good indication is building a really low tower in the WoG Corporation level where it displays your rank. Looks like there is currently about 70,000 players who are ranked--not sure if that includes both PC and WiiWare, however.


Since the game has been on torrent sites for a while now and contains no on-line verification, you can't use that to measure sales figures.

But I definitely bought it, and my brother will probably buy it soon, so that's +2 right there! :)

I am aggressively anti-DRM.  I only heard about WoG a week or so before it came out because of an article (on Joystiq maybe?) regarding it's lack of DRM.  I've purchased two copies for my family (PC).  I've also sold two other people on it (WiiWare).  Well worth it.  People are going to pirate the game regardless of DRM, so that makes no difference whatsoever.

yes, some people pirate no matter what.  that's just what some people do.  It's as natural as some game companies insisting on charging for a new game.

I'd also be interested to know about the uptake of wog, for no reason than pure curiosity!  :)

[quote author=Etohka link=topic=537.msg4105#msg4105 date=1224771650]
If 2D Boy gets screwed sales-wise, I hope next time they do secure their property.  But here's hoping there are enough honest folks.

How do you properly secure a game? Every game, EVERY, those using securome, online activations, tages, etc - they all have been pirated! While I was waiting Far Cry2 to unlock (on Steam) pirates were ALREADY playing it!

Better pricing strategy ($20 seems to be too much imo) would do the trick.

When the game was released on steam I thought - no demo, no ws support, $20 (TF2's price is the same!), nah, won't buy. But after I tried the demo -not only I bought it, but told about it to almost all my friends, many of them bought the game as well.

I suggest we all do the same - make your friends know how awesome this game is! :)

EDIT:
Just notice the tread about the patch... and, where is it on steam? This hurts sales too, you know.

there was a no-DVD patch for North American Stalker Clear Sky out BEFORE it was released.  :D

Hi, I'm an unrepentant software pirate. I stole WoG earlier today.

I'm also unemployed and trying to figure out how I'm going to keep feeding myself+wife+two kids.

2DBoy just got a Paypal from me for 20$. This game is worth it, and I want to be in the 'F*** DRM' category, not the 'DRM is justified' category.

[quote author=Forge link=topic=537.msg4278#msg4278 date=1224978487]
I'm also unemployed and trying to figure out how I'm going to keep feeding myself+wife+two kids.

get a job instead of playing video games.  you're wife & kids should kill you for stealing food $$ for a game, let along spending $$ on a net connection to steal games.  ::)

[quote author=The Happy Friar link=topic=537.msg4280#msg4280 date=1224981239]get a job instead of playing video games. Your wife & kids should kill you for stealing food $$ for a game, let along spending $$ on a net connection to steal games. ::)You don't know the situation though. Possibly the reason he's unemployed is because he couldn't relax enough on his previous job. This game might give him the possibility to do so, increasing his efficiency on future jobs.

So yeah.

I think what he's trying to say is that once he played it, he realised he should be giving them the money and has now paid for it properly..

There's not a small minority of people opposed to DRM, the number out there is sizable.. and they're growing rapidly. Especially every time companies like EA add crippling and stupid software like the three activations version of Securom. And the answer doesn't lie in DRM's, it lies in giving people a reason to shell out cash, and in having a relationship with your customers.. liking a company makes you want to shell out money. Ramping up the DRM just makes some little bugger spend a month cracking the copy protection, then releasing it for everyone to play for free.. it's counterproductive.

I'm as non-piratey as you can get.. I spend money on games because I like the game company and I like having the disk in my hand. It annoys the hell out of me that game companies think it's ok to screw with my pc.

[quote author=Marius link=topic=537.msg4285#msg4285 date=1224982288]
You don't know the situation though. Possibly the reason he's unemployed is because he couldn't relax enough on his previous job. This game might give him the possibility to do so, increasing his efficiency on future jobs.

unless he was lying to make a point, the situation is he spent ~2 days worth of food $$ on a game when he should of spent it on food.  No job isn't an excuse to steal, no matter what situation.  However, to steal so you can spend $$ on food, THEN spend the $$ on a video game = stupid^2.  And again, if he wants the game don't screw over his kids/wife just for some personal gratification, get a JOB.  there's a demo, I have lots of demo's of games I don't plan on buying because I don't divert $$ from food to games.

Tb truly h, what you posted did pop into my mind... I just didn't want to comment on life decisions of someone else based on 1 forum post.

I am usually an unrepentant software pirate (and an unemployed one at that - seems to be more of us around these days for some reason). I only buy games that I have already tried, or that are absolute must haves (eg. Super Mario Galaxy on Wii). I will always buy classic games when they reach the ~$20AUS ($15US) price point (eg. Q3A, UT, CMR2K5 etc), but this game was worth every penny my Dad's credit card paid, and the developers DESERVE every penny they make from this game.

Strangely, I didn't really enjoy or appreciate Tower of Goo, so my purchase of this PC game (and the Wii game when released here in Aus) is more to support Anti-DRM and also to foster Indie game development, although I must admit, I am really enjoying trying to OCD each level now!

Let's assume just 30,000 of those players are legitimate buyers. And 15,000 of those players bought it directly from 2D Boy, which makes them a 100% profit (as opposed to just royalties from other distributors, though I hear it's like 50% from Steam). At $20 a copy, 2D Boy has made at least $300,000 since the game was released.

That means Ron and Kyle probably made more in the past few weeks than they have since they started developing the game, unless I'm grossly underestimating their previous income.

I'd be happy about that myself.

[quote author=The Happy Friar link=topic=537.msg4289#msg4289 date=1224986850]
unless he was lying to make a point, the situation is he spent ~2 days worth of food $$ on a game when he should of spent it on food.

Judgmental much? *I* went hungry, my wife and kids ate.

I was not justifying piracy.

I was expressing appreciation for a truly impressive game in a very large field of unending chains of sequels and overproduced effects-heavy garbage from EA and the likes.

Also, blasting pirates and then saying that a pirate skipping meals to pay for games is double stupid is, well, triple stupid. I'm broke, and things are quite bad, but just saying 'lazy shitty unemployed people could ALL GET JOBS! Get a job you bum!' is oversimplistic at best and ignorant at worst. You don't know me, you don't know my situation, feel free to stop assuming.

The only point of my post was to point out 'Wow, WoG is so good it gets Bad People like me to do the Right Thing, GO TEAM'. If you want it to mean more and fuel some sort of crusade knock yourself out.

Valve games are pirated sure, but less than "nomal" games I find :P

Pirated Valve games are great in a sense, you play on unprotected servers, which equals hackers and douchebags..  Non pirated Valve has VAC servers which ban the douchebags automatically :D

Plus, occasional Free Weekends and updates to the game brings more people to buy the game instead of pirating it.

Left 4 Dead has surpassed by 95% the preorders they've received for The Orange Box, and this is a single game, so that's fucking awesome :D

The last time I bought a game without trying it first was Far Cry 2, and believe me I deeply regretted having been honest for once, I should have pirated it, because if I had seen the disaster beforehand, I would never have bought this crap game !!!

On the other hand, we were playing World of Goo demo with friends, and it was such fun playing all together (and watching them suffer cause I had already completed it, lol), 3 people screaming and lots of finger prints on my screen ("put the goo ball here !!!"). So when we finished the demo (again) they all say "hey come on let's download the entire version..."

To be honest I really didn't want to pirate this game because it's just way too good, and the developers DESERVE MY MONEY (unlike ubi soft who deserve my boot in their asses).

So I took out the credit card and said "hey you're just a bunch of cheap pussies, don't you think this game deserves 15 € ?" they all agreed but none would pay, lol. I don't understand that, I'm happy to give the money to 2dboy.

And then we proceeded to play WoG and we were late for the restaurant cause it's too good.

So, the cons of not having DRM :

- I bought one copy and gave it to 3 friends

And the pros of not having DRM :

- Those 3 cheap bums would have pirated it anyway
- If it had had DRM I would have pirated it also.

Cause WoG is a game I want to be able to install in 10 years... I still play some old Amiga games from 1985 you know. When you make an exceptionally good game, it must not come with a self-destruct mechanism !

So, thanks for the "no drm".

You guys should make about $200K each from this game... I'd be happy for you if you make more, but this is already very good... much better than anyone who worked on far cry 2 !!! (so finally there is a justice !)

Now that we know piracy figures, we can make a better estimation on the number of actual sales. There are over 325,000 players on the leaderboard; if we assume 10% of these represent actual sales (others are both pirates and extra accounts from legitimate customers, which is why I don't use the 18% rate instead) this means they sold around 32,500 copies.

If we assume that each sale makes them between $10 and $19 (even Paypal takes a cut) they should have made between $32,500 and $61,750. Of course, this is income only; they probably have a lot of costs that have to be paid out of that.

(By the way, the assumption of "between $10 and $19" is based on online retail; no idea how much they make from retail versions, but I suspect that online sales are the majority right now).