Reddit user “bolivar-shagnasty” is currently serving his country as an officer in the United States Air Force stationed in Afghanistan where the internet is “disgustingly slow and it costs so much that it seems like price gouging.” Undaunted, he attempted to download some indie games through both Steam and Direct2Drive. It was a no-go on both fronts. Yet the airmen wasn’t about to let a little thing like that prevent him enjoying Supergiant’s download-only Bastion.
Desperate to experience the acclaimed action-RPG, he reached out to the development team to inquire if a boxed release was in the works. “I emailed Supergiant to see if they had any plans on releasing [sic] a disc based version,” he explained on Reddit. “I had spent so much time researching that I read a little about the plot and got really excited about it.”
In a move that took the USAF officer a bit by surprise, someone from the studio got back to him. “I got a response back from Greg from Supergiant,” he continued. “This wasn’t a customer service rep or PR guy. It was Greg Kasavin…” He was excited to get a response from the man who described himself as a writer and designer on the game. Unbeknownst to the serviceman, Kasavin also happens to be the head honcho of the indie studio.
Although Kasavin informed him that there were “no plans” to release a hard copy of the game, he took down the man’s address and told him that “he would see what he could do.”
“A few weeks later I get a copy of the game and some Bastion swag,” the airman said. “All he asks for in return is for me to get a copy on Steam when I come home.” He is now the sole owner of a physical copy of the title.
Just how did he get a copy of something that doesn’t exist? Speaking with Joystiq earlier today, Kasavin explained how the team developed a workaround. “We went out and got a spool of DVD-Rs and burned him a disc containing the installer for the game,” he explained. “We recently started selling some Bastion merchandise out of our studio so we threw in a Bastion bandana for good measure.” The boys at Supergiant felt the bandanna had the potential to be “useful out there.”
He added that this was hardly the first time a soldier stationed abroad wrote the team, but it was the first correspondence from one who wanted to play their game but couldn’t. “We’re humbled by the kind of reaction the game has received from players. We respond to every fan email we get because we think it’s well worthwhile to treat our customers the way we’d like to be treated. Besides which, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this if not for them.”
