PC Release of Braid Moved; Does it Matter?

Jonathan Blow of Braid fame announced through his development blog the expected time frame for the PC version of his widely popular platform hit:

“At this time, we’re looking at a window of February-March 2009 for the PC release. I know this isn’t good news for those of you who have been waiting a long time for the game, but there sure are lots of games out there for you to play in the meantime.”

The original plan of being released by the end of 2008 was aborted in response to, in Blow’s words, “all the big Christmas-season blockbusters.” But his fears of Braid being lost in the flood of other games will carry on over to the new date, where he’ll be competing with big names like Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, and, especially, the Sims 3, proving the hard knock life of being an independent developer. And even though the price of Braid will be small compared to the competition, there’s still the issue of piracy.

The "meantime"

Let’s not forget what happen to 2D Boy, another independent game developer, whose critically acclaimed game, World of Goo, fell to piracy. Word got out last month by designer Rob Carmel that an estimated 90% of all installations were pirated. Luckily for them, the catastrophic statistic didn’t force them into bankruptcy, as sales on the Wii and through Steam were enough to keep them in business. With that said, Jonathan Blow’s game has garnered enough profit to weather the expected storm; though, that’s not even a small consolation in our current economic crisis. These small developers, despite having big dreams, just can’t catch a break.

Since the staff of GotGame are advocates for games as art (then again, who isn’t these days?), we’d like to help Mr. Blow in creating sales for his PC version of Braid, thus more incentive to create more games that strive to be works of art, by combating the attacks of piracy. How, you ask? We’re going to tell you some opinions (read: Facts) about Braid.

Braid is awesome. It is worth your time. It is worth your money. And thus, it is worth your investment. If you’re going to play the game on PC, support developers like Jonathan Blow by purchasing their games and saying no to piracy. Only you can prevent game atrocities.