Slay the Princess devs call for players to steal their game over watching Let’s Plays

When game developers want you to play their game to the point where they suggest pirating, it really speaks volumes about their passion, and that’s exactly what happened with Slay the Princess.

Thanks to Eurogamer for the update on June 22, Markipiler started his second Let’s Play live episode of Slay the Princess. Before the stream had even begun, the developers, Black Tabby Games, reached out to players via X (formerly Twitter) saying, “For folks tuning in to the Markiplier Slay the Princess series— if you haven’t played on your own yet, the best viewing experience will be if you watch it after playing.”

At first, this may seem like a shameless promotion to sell more copies of the unique indie game, but that wasn’t the case here. “Or if you can’t afford the game in general, pirate it! No skin off our back, and you can always buy a copy later if you think the game was worth your money. And then watch Mr. Plier.:),” they added.

So, what could make a game developer suggest piracy over legitimately buying their game? Simple, they just want players to experience the game themselves. In fact, the developers care so much about the player experience that they’d rather lose sales than see their game spoiled via a Let’s Play.

Slay the Princess is a Psychological Horror visual novel-styled game where player choices carry through each playthrough. The game is currently sitting at Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam and is even releasing on consoles.

Even though most game developers have no problem having their games streamed, narrative-heavy games, like Slay the Princess, are a bit different. The main appeal of a game like this is to experience it yourself for the first time and organically react to everything the game throws back at you. 

While we definitely don’t condone piracy, it’s hard not to be moved by Black Tabby Games’ post. If you’re interested in Slay the Princess, check out the free demo available on Steam.