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Preys-World - Pirate fined GBP 16K for game with launch price of GBP 10

Tuesday 19th of August, 2008 - 10:40:53 GMT

Topware Interactive is celebrating today after one of the four people the company successfully sued, was made to pay 1000 times the official price of its game, Dream Pinball 3D. The game will actually miss the UK Bank Holiday and is only released at the end of the month, 29th August.

The anonymous woman was fined GBP 6,086 in direct damages and the legal costs of GBP 10,000 - In other words, GBP 16086 for a game with a RRP of GBP 16 from shops, and which she could have pre-ordered from Play.com for less than a tenner, since its release date is after the bank holiday on Friday 29th August. Even then, the Jersey-based website only plans to increase the initial launch price by one single pound. Play's bargain price may have arisen from the bad reviews given by American console buyers of the game, particularly over on Amazon.com.

The damages were multiplied by the approximated number of downloads arising from her upload of the game to a file sharing site. In addition to the three other people successfully found guilty, 1000 further names of pirates were obtained via the legal action. However it was not made clear whether this larger group had pirated videogames alone or music, movies and TV episodes as well.

Either way, in the era where Crysis has been condemned to midtable chart placings by its heavy piracy, it serves them right and it will be the ultimate irony if these four people pirated a game that really was rubbish. The first British Amazon reviewer certainly thinks so.

- Ken

Financial information: Metro London (print)

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