Ubisoft: Piracy makes I Am Alive PC not worth it
'If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it'.
A port of I Am Alive for PC seems unlikely because of widespread piracy on the platform, the game's creative director Stanislas Mettra has told IncGamers.
Mettra says the team is aware of the disappointment from PC gamers when it was revealed I Am Alive wasn't coming to PC, but in the end money talks.
"We've heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them," said Mettra. "But are these people just making noise just because there's no version or because it's a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?"
He added: "It's hard because there's so much piracy and so few people are paying for PC games that we have to precisely weigh it up against the cost of making it. Perhaps it will only take 12 guys three months to port the game to PC, it's not a massive cost but it's still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it."
I Am Alive will be released this winter.
VideoGamer.com Analysis
It's understandable that Ubisoft is weary of PC development because of piracy, but we've seen plenty of success stories which argue that games can do well on PC. Minecraft has notched up over four million sales, whilst Xbox Live Indie Game RPG Cthulu Saves The World has sold over 100,000 copies on Steam in four days - four times the total it managed in around a year on Xbox LIVE Indie Games.
User Comments
Darkr8zor
coletrain@ draytone
coletrain@ squidman
(Not my opinion btw ;) )
squidman
draytone@ Endless
Endless
That aside I really like the look of this. Sort of a Tomb Raider vibe with Resident Evil mixed in. Interesting that you appear to be surviving from other humans, not zombies or dinosaurs or anything like that.
CheekyLee
Which side of the head do I slap them across first?
Wido
I do think the only PC gamers shouldn't be treated as the outcasts. PC gaming isn't my preferable choice of platform, so this doesn't bother me at all. Just the game which is my concern. Reading Neon's preview has made me feel a bit - I don't know if I am coming or going with this game.
p0rtalthinker
Of course you are SO right Ubisoft. I mean: Skyrim managing a record-breaking first day on Steam; Portal 2 selling the majority of its copies on PC, and of course that super Steam sale where people are throwing heaps of cash at Valve? Yep. Totally right. No one’s buying anything on the PC CLEARLY
Woffls
Except they totally wouldn't.
And yes, PC defence force, we know that console games are pirated as well.