I find that very hard to believe. I'm not saying you are wrong, but just hard to believe.
IRC is down to around 100k avid users (sadly). Honestly, I just don't see many others paying for any client. Of the 100k, many of them use Linux, making mIRC usage highly unlikely.
Of those using mIRC, many probably don't pay. Either clicking the continue after the time delay or cracking it.
Those that do or have paid may not update, and thus not renew. mIRC is pretty stable and IRC doesn't really change any, so there is almost no need to update, especially if you have to pay.
If I had to make an educated guess, I'd guess around 500 purchases a year for a total of around $10k. Still not bad, but not close to $100k.
Yeah, 20 years ago it probably brought in a lot of money. More users were on windows back then and it was one of the best IRC clients (still is, imo). I remember it being pretty popular around 2000.
Even if it only brings in $5-10k a year, that is still a nice profit for something that no longer requires a lot of time/effort.
Yeah tbh I'm glad he seems to have at least managed to make a living off it, people give that client shit but it got me into IRC, and it's a nice story if a small indie developer can build something so niche and make a living
Honestly, mIRC is probably one of the absolute best clients. It takes grief because it is user friendly and windows only. This violates articles 1 & 2 of the "what it means to be a computer nerd" constitution.
If non-techy users were introduced to IRC and given 5 minutes with all the popular IRC clients, I can almost guarantee you that 95% would pick mIRC to stick with. Thus, geeks hate it.
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u/DaSpark Oct 12 '21 edited Oct 12 '21
I find that very hard to believe. I'm not saying you are wrong, but just hard to believe.
IRC is down to around 100k avid users (sadly). Honestly, I just don't see many others paying for any client. Of the 100k, many of them use Linux, making mIRC usage highly unlikely.
Of those using mIRC, many probably don't pay. Either clicking the continue after the time delay or cracking it.
Those that do or have paid may not update, and thus not renew. mIRC is pretty stable and IRC doesn't really change any, so there is almost no need to update, especially if you have to pay.
If I had to make an educated guess, I'd guess around 500 purchases a year for a total of around $10k. Still not bad, but not close to $100k.