[Updated] Counterstrike Portable Pirated from the devs and Sold on the Android Market

A few days back we showed you a nifty little game that lets you play the popular first-person shooter, Counter Strike. XDA developers Pavel M’s and FrIuNs port, CS Portable, allows up to 500 players and even features cross platform compatibility so Android players can frag and shoot at their PC counterparts.

So far the game has amassed a number of players online and still growing. Certainly a portable Counter Strike would make most developers charge at least a buck to allow someone to shoot a virtual Ak-47. Fortunately CS Portable is free for everyone to download and play. Pavel M does take donations for labor and coding and many grateful gamers have nudged him along with a few donations. Like most things free however, greed takes advantage.

On their Facebook site, the developers discovered that their game has been pirated, complete with screenshot ripped from their thread. Even worse, the thief is charging for what originally is free.

So far they’ve managed to extract the offenders email address. We’ve also linked the game in question below so those who would like to help, can report the offending game.

Android’s freedom can sometimes be a double edge sword. Placing an app on the market is easy, just pay the developers fee and watch as your pride and joy makes its debut a lot quicker than Apples microscopic inspection. This can have its drawback as well. We’ve seen hardworking developers get ripped off, their games uploaded with little change and priced at a lower price, making a quick buck.

This brings in the argument whether or not Google should enforce a stricter approval process when publishing apps on their Android Market. Whether you’re for it or not, developers such as Pavel M have feelt the frustration of having timeless hours stolen. The fake game quietly sits on the Market with 50-100 downloads. A whopping $13.11 nets you the otherwise free game. If we do some math here and take the minimum download (50) and multiplied by its asking amount, then the pirate has made off with over $600, maybe even more! Support for the developer has yet to run short though, one lone and brave user has paid and downloaded the game with a warning for other potential gamers that the game is pirated.

Pavel M, a Russian developer, has attempted to get in touch with Google moderators:

I don't really know how could I contact to google. We gave just reported that it was stolen. It was appeared yesterday. I think google have to remove this game and punish man who has stolen game. (sic).

While it may sound naïve, we hope issues like these will never happen again. Most developers count on your dollars for rent and paying monthly bills. It’s even worse when they’re offering their projects for free. Support hard work, support your developers!

Update Jan. 31st, 2012 12:21pm: Looks like the game has been removed from the Android Market!

Android Market Pirate Link: N/A (Been Pulled)

XDA Thread: Link