Done.

They must get a lot of CV!

I'd say that giving away games with lots of DLCs would make more sense. X copies of the game, would have some chances to generate money for the DLCs.

Piracy is actually the #1 advertising of games/music/etc... originally unknown games such as The Witcher, without any copy protection get the worldwide respect of quality gameplay and people actually make more purchases supporting the developer (plus future games). Even though most developers/producers think it's a bad thing... for example, Metallica became worldwide famous from Napster - blaming it for profit losts, they probably actually made way more profit/sales in future contests and albums, simply due to it. Some companies are getting really good at this, tasting... actually leaking beta copies on purpose to gain interest. Believe it or not - DLCs, Always Online and Copy Protection is actually costing/hurting the companies more, than priacy is.

Giveaways is the next best advertising market. Word of mouth to friends, etc. It's not costing them a cent to clone a virtual good, while it could be a lost of a sale (it's not really), some are finally wising up to the fact it's great advertising to get out there... if they have a good quality product, people will still purchase it and support them for years to come.

I'll go for the route of it being due to the fact there isn't any current playable version. I pre-ordered the game before the developer giveaway was created on here, and did so because it would help them with production of the game. Some people like to have a tangible copy of certain material, which is of course why some do not like Steam when they receive only the digital copy. In this case, it is even less than having the digital, you simply receive a Humble Bundle page with a key that eventually will have the Beta, and in the future, the key for the game on Steam. This may not be seen as worth it at the current stage of the game, as there are simply a few dozen images, and a few videos detailing aspects and qualities of the game. If I had not played Terraria and knew how great an opportunity this was, I probably would not have pre-ordered Starbound due to the lack of current visible content.

Then again, I assume that most people don't even read the description, and in the worst case, don't even know what the game is about. Perhaps they didn't even know what the game is and that is why they wouldn't bother to visit the page, simply because they do not care in the long run and just want games.

I believe most giveaway creators would have more of an incentive to host giveaways once their game is newly released, as then it urges and draws in the players for what they could have won. It's great publicity nonetheless, as it still gets the word (or name) of the game out in the open. If someone's skimming and they see the game they may be more inclined to read up on it simply because they saw it for a few seconds while entering the giveaway.

Yes, I think it is. There are some games that otherwise some people wouldn't even have heard of. I've seen people win a game and, because they liked it, give one ore more copies of said game here. Of course, some people don't read the description and just want some free games, but still it's a way of advertising the game.

who cares? free games!

It IS worth it. Just look at TPB promotions (I think it was McPixel when you could've download from TPB).

I knew I bought Magical Drop V after seeing the giveaway the developers had on here. Had never heard of the game prior to that and most likely would not have bought it had they not done that giveaway.

It's probably just that it's difficult to measure which sales are linked to which particular piece of marketing.

Good promo

Maybe some of us are educated.

I entered the Starbound giveaway because I want the game. I've previously seen their website, but only long enough to sign up for release date notification.

I get all the rest of my news from enthusiast sites. I have found lots of developer / publisher sites to be poorly designed and full of slow loading crap. I now stay away.

And I'll buy Starbound on a seasonal sale, just like I did with Terraria. Which I still haven't played.