SpeedRunners will release for free, charge for online play

If you've not heard of it, SpeedRunners is a four player 2D competitive platformer with the design sensibilities of Super Smash Bros. Fast rounds, madcap chaos, an equal measure of skill and luck. While the game is currently available for $10 or seven pounds on Steam's Early Access, its developer tinyBuild has announced the full game will release for free. Read why below the jump.

Speaking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun, developer Alex Nichiporchik said he was inspired by developers such as Mikolaj "Sos" Kaminski, the developer of McPixel, who released official versions of the game on sites like The Pirate Bay.

"I've seen it multiple times when people pirate some sort of software, fall in love with it, and then due to constant updates reminders end up buying it, just for the convenience. Basically, when developers provide a good service, people see the value in spending money. Minecraft is a great example. With the constant updates, it's so clear you should throw your money at the screen - simply provide a service, making it much more convenient than searching for cracks.

"We've decided to make SpeedRunners free when it comes out. The local version of SpeedRunners will be available completely free, you'll be able to download it and play with your friends on a couch, or use any of the offline features (right now we have bots to play against offline). The online part of SpeedRunners will be what people pay money for, it's the service we provide to players."

Nichiporchik clarified that anyone who has already purchased the game's Early Access version ill receive the updated online edition when it finally releases.

It's hard not to applaud tinyBuild for trying something new, especially considering that the mode they're including, local co-op, is probably one of the game's primary draws. Hope it works out for them.

Thanks, Rock, Paper, Shotgun.