MSI Afterburner Developer Hasn't been Paid for a Year, Product Development in Limbo

[lexluthermiester]

I can try putting it a different way: Unwinder stands to lose more from ending his MSI contract/relationship than MSI does.

Not really. MSI stands to loose a lot. Alexey owns the code for Afterburner. All he has to do is take out MSI's branding and he can then do as he pleases with it.

 

[NRANM]

Not really. MSI stands to loose a lot. Alexey owns the code for Afterburner. All he has to do is take out MSI's branding and he can then do as he pleases with it.

And how does that hurt MSI in any meaningful way?
And if MSI really does stand to lose much more, why are people so mad? I mean, people consider MSI to be evil, greedy, etc. so they should be happy that such a large corporation would be feeling some pain.

Also, if Unwinder can really remove MSI's branding without any consequences, perhaps he should do so and just ask for donations via some service that isn't completely blocked in Russia. Or maybe he could approach a different company that would be willing to finance him. Maybe we can have ASUS Afterburner (yes, I know they already have a tool) or Gigabyte Afterburner, or Sapphire Afterburner, etc.

 

[lexluthermiester]

And how does that hurt MSI in any meaningful way?

If that has to be explained to you, the answer likely would be meaningless. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem anyway.

 

[NRANM]

If that has to be explained to you, the answer likely would be meaningless. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem anyway.

Why don't you at least try? I wasn't being dismissive or facetious. I sincerely doubt this would hurt MSI in any way. Of course, I could be missing something, so I asked for details.
If anything, you seem a bit condescending at the moment.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Why don't you at least try?

Such an explanation would be very lengthy and I don't have the time.

I wasn't being dismissive or facetious.

Seemed like it..

I sincerely doubt this would hurt MSI in any way.

Hold that thought...

Of course, I could be missing something, so I asked for details.

You don't see the benefit of having your company name integrated into the most powerful and popular GPU utility in the world?

 

[NRANM]

You don't see the benefit of having your company name integrated into the most powerful and popular GPU utility in the world?

I definitely see the benefit. Which is why I played with the idea of Unwinder switching to a different company if MSI are unwilling or unable to resolve the issue.

What I doubt is that removing MSI's name from Afterburner's name would impact MSI's sales in any significant way. For example, I'm certain that many users on this forum would think twice or outright boycott MSI if the situation with Afterburner turns for the worst. The same would most likely apply to users on other tech forums, YouTube channels, etc. But would the average gamer know and/or care about Afterburner's fate? How many gamers rely on Afterburner in their daily gaming habits? What percentage of graphics card purchasers in general are aware of Afterburner's existence and would care enough to boycott MSI's cards, or even their entire lineup of products? My guess is that percentage is very low. Granted, I'm sure MSI would rather not lose any such potential customers if they can help it, but it isn't something that would significantly impact their bottom line.

Disclaimer: Personally, I would not be boycotting MSI. Afterburner is nowhere near critically important to me, 99% of what I need it for is the overlay to display various system parameters, and even that is something I don't use frequently. I see no point in overclocking and the benefits of undervolting would be minimal for me, as I don't spend that much time gaming. I also tend to not boycott companies in general, even if I have some issues with them. If I did that, I would have no PC and barely any other electronics. Whenever I purchase a piece of hardware, I select it based on its performance and price, not on the companies' politics or reputation.

 

[Deleted member 57642]

MSI is a big company. Hardware wise - at least when it comes to motherboards, monitors and laptops - they seem to be doing a good job... for most part. Software wise (and i say this as a MSI laptop owner) - they seem to struggle - A LOT... to make decent/functional software for their products. MSI Afterburner - is actually the exception, which ironically - is not even dedicated solely for MSI GPUs. Customer support wise - regarding product issues (nothing related to payments, promotions or anything like that) - personally, had a positive experience. On the other hand - their payment or rewarding policies (which i believe - comes from above) - seem questionable - to say the least (the word "cheapskate" - keeps popping into my head when i think about it). Or at least - that's what i noticed on reddit or even the official forum: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?forums/msi-promotions-activities.65/ It's as if... MSI is owned and run by a real life version of Scrooge. Seriously, how scrupulous can one get... to make it sound like it goes against their political polices "to pay a Russian employee (be it freelancer)" - while at the same time - the same policy is perfectly fine with selling their products to Russian costumers (hypocrisy/double standards at the highest level).

 

[Mussels]

Why don't you at least try? I wasn't being dismissive or facetious. I sincerely doubt this would hurt MSI in any way. Of course, I could be missing something, so I asked for details.
If anything, you seem a bit condescending at the moment.

Do you have any idea how bad it would hurt their reputation that this extremely well known, one of a kind program that every single GPU overclocker users is suddenly not MSI any longer because they refuse to pay their bills?

Some people buy MSI exclusively because they know the program and trust the brand because of it


When their reputation takes a hit in pro circles, it's a trickle down effect: elite users stop recommending them, then reviewers pass on a negative comment, then people reading who dont understand the full story internalise that "MSI bad"

I bet gigabytes sales are going great after their 750W PSU's started exploding, even on the unaffected lines

Yknow, after all the crap about fake afterburner download links...


The original legit one thinks it's november 2023 already

 

[NRANM]

Do you have any idea how bad it would hurt their reputation that this extremely well known, one of a kind program that every single GPU overclocker users is suddenly not MSI any longer because they refuse to pay their bills?

I guess I don't. As I mentioned already, I'm certain their reputation will take a hit. No question about that. I just doubt it would be such a hit that would impact sales in any meaningful way.

Some people buy MSI exclusively because they know the program and trust the brand because of it

While I'm sure there are indeed some people who do that, there is no chance I could be convinced that this is nothing but a miniscule number of people. In fact, some enthusiasts boycotting MSI's graphics card, as few as those would be in the grand scheme of things, are still most likely more numerous than people who buy exclusively MSI cards just because the name is attached to Afterburner.

When their reputation takes a hit in pro circles, it's a trickle down effect: elite users stop recommending them, then reviewers pass on a negative comment, then people reading who dont understand the full story internalise that "MSI bad"

I think you are overestimating the effect.
Besides, if users internalized "<insert company name here> = bad", then the entire PC market would've collapsed by now. Through the years, I've seen many negative news related to Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD, yet they are still going strong.

I bet gigabytes sales are going great after their 750W PSU's started exploding, even on the unaffected lines

I'm sure their sales figures are worse than they had hoped. I'm also sure they are still selling PSUs and other hardware, and their business isn't in any danger of going under because of the PSU fiasco.

Also, I want to set the record straight, just in case someone might have made incorrect assumptions: I do want this situation to have a happy resolution for both parties, and Alexey to receive what is owed to him thus far.

 

[Mussels]

I think you are overestimating the effect.

As someone who's seen how news spreads on these things, nah absolutely not


Look at all the drama over gigabytes PSUs, MSI's motherboard VRMs, 4090s exploding - all these things get a lot of attention and commentary, and to people who just skim these things without a full understand they just summarise it down as "avoid that brand i heard bad things"

 

[MaddoggMiranda]

Update from Unwinder dated 16/01/23
Source guru3D Forums

"Dear forum visitors,


There were a lot of discussions about the future of MSI Afterburner project in different places during the last days. Let me summarize things and address the most frequently asked questions:

- I see that a lot of you are offering to donate to compensate possible project loss. I really thank you and appreciate it, but it is not necessary. Probably you see the situation in too dramatic light and believe that it is much worse for me than it actually is due to misunderstanding of MSI Afterburner development process. MSI AB is not fulltime development job and it is not the only thing I do for living, my primary job is software development in medical R&D company. MSI AB and RTSS are pet projects which I supported during my free time in the evenings and weekends during last 25 years. That’s not a case of losing the only source of income and becoming hungry and homeless. So thanks again, but donations are not necessary, partial income loss is sad and sensible but not critical for my life conditions.
- A lot of you offer to rebrand application, sell it in STEAM or monetize it in other forms. I don’t see it as even remotely possible scenario. According to our license agreement I exclusively own source code (so technically I can do anything with it) but the company exclusively owns product name, branding and distribution rights. So doing so will result in license agreement violation from my side. I respect the agreements I sign and won’t do it under any conditions, it is a question of reputation.
- Some users believe that I should relocate from Russia to continue working on the project. I don’t see it as an option too. I had multiple job offers and could live and work abroad decades ago, I have the possibility to migrate to any country, but I was born here and 4 generations of my family were born and lived in this place. It is a small Russian city located on Azov sea coast near Russia/Ukraine border, it is located extremely close to Mariupol and warzone. Yes, living conditions suck badly here even comparing to big Russian cities like Moscow, but it is my birthplace, home and I love it. My grand and grand grandparents are buried here, my aged relatives live here and I simply cannot allow myself to leave them and escape. It is not a question of political preferences; it is a question of loving your home and your family.
- MSI are indeed trying to solve the problem now. But they tried to solve it a few times during 2022 and each previous attempt failed. Being a realist I understand that current attempt may fail as well, so I simply prepared myself to the worst case and accepted the fact that project is possibly dead. Please, no need to blame MSI for this situation. It is a stallmate case, when they want to continue cooperation but see no ways to do so at the moment."

 

[NRANM]

- MSI are indeed trying to solve the problem now. But they tried to solve it a few times during 2022 and each previous attempt failed. Being a realist I understand that current attempt may fail as well, so I simply prepared myself to the worst case and accepted the fact that project is possibly dead. Please, no need to blame MSI for this situation. It is a stallmate case, when they want to continue cooperation but see no ways to do so at the moment."

I feel vindicated in my decision/stance to not jump to conclusions.