A Message from Poni-Pachet in Regards to Ozmafia’s English Release
Earlier today, Yumas, member of the two-person Poni-Pachet team which developed Ozmafia, posted a message in both English and Japanese on Twitter today for the English-speaking fanbase! Here is the English version of the message (JP version can be found in the source link above):
Dear our English-speaking friends and overseas otome game users,
I had the report of a sale date for localization the other day.
I guess some people waited for several years.
Sorry to have kept you waiting very much.
First of all, to be honest, I don’t have that good of an image of overseas users.
The PC version is meant for Japanese users and distribution (technically speaking) is only domestic, so I have a strong image of overseas users playing illegally uploaded versions.
Of course, I understand that this is not everyone and that some users have purchased it legitimately.
However, when the contents of the trial version are extracted and images that are not supposed to get out are leaked, the source usually ends up with overseas users.
I cannot get rid of this feeling that something I worked so hard to create is being stolen.
On the other hand, I also understand the argument of “I cannot get access so I have to get it illegally.”
Thanks to Eurovision, which I love, I am often introduced to foreign artists.
Of course, as their CDs are often unavailable domestically, I have no choice but to search for them online. Oftentimes I am unable to purchase physical copies.
In those situations, I buy them off of iTunes. It would certainly be possible to get the tracks for free illegally.
Still, I am very interested in this talk of making an English version.
With the restriction removed, it should be easier to access than before.
Making a “purchase” is, in a sense, an investment.
We are not robots. We aren’t doing charity either.
We can continue to make things because of investments from other people.
This does not only apply to our work.
If there is something that you like and it has a company, don’t just talk about it. Buy it and support them.
Your investments will surely lead to a better future.
If it becomes widely known that the English version is available, I believe that the number of works distributed should increase and we can become friendly with overseas users.
Also, one last thing.
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who was involved with making the English version.
I hope the product of your efforts reaches as many people as possible!
Yumas
Poni-Pachet
To sum up: Please respect Yumas’ wishes by not torrenting/illegally downloading Ozmafia for “free” anywhere when it comes out and please do not extract Ozmafia’s assets including art and music to post online.
Yumas still has reservations about releasing Ozmafia in English since Poni-Pachet is a small developer who cannot afford people illegally downloading their game instead of buying it. In fact, there are still many Japanese developers who are reluctant to publish their games in English, especially on PC, due to the fear that overseas gamers will choose to pirate their games instead of purchasing them.
If you want Poni-Pachet to consider releasing more of their works in English such as their upcoming games, Yuukoko no Perseus and Akatsuki no Betelgeuse, then please make sure to pre-order Ozmafia from Mangagamer’s site (Mangagamer account required and right sidebar may contain NSFW images) for 15% off or buy it when it launches on Steam on April 29th instead of pirating it. The Steam version will be 15% off as well for the first week it launches, but Poni-Pachet and Mangagamer get more money when you order directly from Mangagamer since Valve takes about 30-40% of the profit when you buy it from Steam.
Also, there are people who may not be able to afford to pre-order right away due to their budgets. That’s understandable! However, there are at least two legal workarounds that can help you get the game either for free or to just bump down the price as much as you can!
Sign up for Mangagamer’s affiliate program. If you have a Mangagamer account and you sign up for their affiliate program, you can get about 10% of the sales in credit whenever someone uses your custom affiliate link to make a purchase. Credit earned can be either converted into real money (only works if you have at least 200 USD worth of credit) or into MG points which can be used to purchase games in Mangagamer’s store. If you can get about 10 people to buy Ozmafia using your link, then you will have enough credit to buy the game for yourself.
In order to sign-up for their affiliate program, you need to click the yellow box below the “Your Account” pink box, follow any instructions listed, and agree to their terms. Once you’re in the program, the site should generate an affiliate link for you for any product page you go to.
Here’s an example!
If you’ve got any questions on how Mangagmer’s affiliate program works, then Mangagamer’s support desk would be the best place to get more info via support[at]mangagamer.com.
Earn Steam wallet funds. One common, free way to earn Steam wallet funds is by selling things on the Steam marketplace! Most people make their money by selling common trading card drops, but you can sell other things on the marketplace, too, like backgrounds, emotes, foil cards, booster packs, etc. Common cards earned from playing games can go around 10 cents average, but cards from the more recent games along with foil cards, rarer backgrounds, emotes on Steam can sell for much higher! I recommend checking the market price beforehand before putting something up for sale. There are various guides online that can help you get into the Steam marketplace game if you need more information too.
This method might take some time, but you can earn about 20 USD or so to spend on Steam if you have enough patience.
If you want to see more otome games from Mangagamer and Poni-Pachet in English in the future, then show it with your wallets and buy Ozmafia!
