Skullgirls: Updates, Features & Controversies

“What’s the square root of a fish?” This peculiar question was posed by the fighting game Skullgirls to a bewildered player. The confused player, Twitter user SaikyoChamp, unfamiliar with such aquatic arithmetic, promptly turned to the developer, querying about the oddity of this inquiry.

You think you’re down in the dumps now. Just wait until you make a fool of yourself in front of the game’s developer on the internet.

As it transpires, the answer is as follows: “It implies that you ought to purchase the game rather than pirate it.”

Ah, snap!

It turns out that the Skullgirls developer set this perplexing message as a snare. Thus, those ensnared by it would seek assistance online and expose themselves as pirates.

“I’m sorry. I sort of did a try-before-you-buy thing. I’ve already bought it on PS3 and I’m planning to acquire it for Steam shortly,” SaikyoChamp asserted in his defense. “I was on the verge of buying it this morning, BUT GAMESTOP DOESN’T SELL IT DIRECTLY ONLINE AND I DON’T FEEL LIKE LEAVING MY HOUSE!!!”

“It’s all fine, mate,” the developer responded. “Well… I mean, it’s not truly okay, but I understand. Just endeavor to do the right thing eventually.”

“Thanks for not losing your cool,” replied the internet’s swashbuckling troublemaker.

This isn’t the initial instance where a developer has planted hidden traps in pirated versions of their game. Last year, the developer of Game Dev Tycoon arranged it in such a way that those who pirated the game would inevitably face defeat. This is because in the game, pirates would illegally download the in-game game they were developing. Oh, the irony.