WHOA! Wait, are you saying they you wear eye patches!? What have I been missing out on!? =O

Hasn't the TPB been sunk?

Demos aren't profitable. End of story. You just have to learn to deal with it. If you can't understand why, watch the video Cyraxpt posted for some insight.
In the age of Let's Plays and Youtube reviews there is really no excuse for pirating just for the sake of seeing what the game actually looks like.

It seems to be only temporarily. The countdown on their site states they'll "relaunch" or something on 01 february 2015.

Thankyou

As pointed in the video, the new form of demos actually are the mobile games with in-app purchases and in that particular market that makes sense because:
1.technically, due to the various you'll never be 100% sure that your game will work correctly on most devices.
2.consumer's habits: people almost spent no money are more likely to throw 1$ here and there than paying 5$ upfront.

Now, on the PC market specifically:
1.sharewares was useful to get known in the 90's because of the lack of internet, now there's youtube, twitch.
2.consumer's habits: games are to gamers what clothings are to women: driven by sales and impulsive buys.

The state of PC demos nowadays from a dev point of view:
1. Demos are now mostly used for tech/gameplay demos to promote crowdfunding campaigns. Sadly, early access are now the "new demos".
2. Most games rely on upgrades and unlockables so if the demo features only the beginning of the game, it will lack most of the features and run the risk of feeling too generic (like every metroidvania starts with only "jump and shoot" option)
3. The best way would be to design a specific level which would showcase every features of the game but it can heavily backfire as the level design and game balance could be completely different than the real game experience.
4. the best genre for demos are point 'n' click which only features the beginning of the game as the player can directly experience the flow of the story and get involved in it or not.
5. Money Shark mode on: a PC consumer will more likely buy a 5$ game on sale than properly taking the the time to install a demo and play it so it's better to not refrain him from his purchase. Of course, for a 30-60$ price, it's another matter but as most games cost less than 20$....

Conclusion : IMHO the only future of PC demos are through web games (no install, direct gameplay) without forgetting to put a visible buying option. See how Winter Wolves did it for Vera Blanc:
http://www.winterwolves.com/webgames/verablancfullmoon/

I don't understand how a demo cannot be profitable. The programming code is the same, so you get one guy to sit down one afternoon and make an alternate build script that does not include all the assets. building a demo is then a matter of just pressing a few different buttons. Once it's automated the extra work is just a few seconds.

A couple hundred of those games are free to play.
Several more hundred are DLC.
Many more are short cheap indie titles that probably don't need a demo.

My point is that it is not true that nobody makes demos anymore.

This discussion would do better to make names. Which big game are not getting demos? And why?

I'm wondering how many people who downloaded games from pirate bay buy them and how many consume the whole game without buying it afterwards.
The demo thing is just a cheap excuse in my opinion.

Thanks for the video, Cyraxpt! +1

The video makes it clear why there are no more demos, but the conclusion is simply retarded: "There are no more demos due to our consumer habits, because we don't buy shitty games or games with shitty demos". ?!?Logic!?!

People who download DRM free games would also download food or water if it was possible. And the worst thing is, they don't even consider this as something wrong. This is nothing but theft, and not "freedom" as they like to call it.

Sorry for necromancing. But piratebay is dead. I hope you all happy now...

That aside, i had been a pirate, and i discovered GoG myself only from torrent sites, by chance! I was so thrilled by discovering that those games were DRM-FREE, i was amazed by their quality and awed by the extra content gifted with, that i HAD to come here, and buy ALL games i liked, even those i did not like but downloaded once, AT ONCE! I even worked the GoG game torrents as a big demo, and then, i IMMEDIATELY purchased everything i tested, much like the Shadow Warrior 2013, preferring to fork over here 30 euros, instead of only 6 that Steam charged it at the time.

I highly believe torrenting benefits GoG, or at least it does it no harm. On the contrary, many torrent sites' forums are angry for people demanding GoG version of games and even downright scold them for not buying and not supporting GoG. Plus, the better a game that is torrented, the greater the urge for those who play and enjoy it to buy it and collect it. Works both ways like an advertizement, or a big demo, of sorts.

To conclude, gifts aside, i have bought here no less than 70 games, myself. I am, sorry, had been a dedicated and idealist pirate. And i would feel terribly if i didn't buy those games, both for betraying the trust and goodwill of GoG daring to offer them with so many privileges towards the consumers, and for not owning legit a game i really liked in my personal collection. I have even bought again for second (or third) time, games that i already owned as retail! Because GoG upgrades and tweaks them properly to run well on modern systems (and actually care to provide support, which unlike other services, is quick, accurate and cares enough to provide working solutions). And still, i am not even satisfied, i would buy here many more games if they got them up for sales; Bloodlines, Monkey Island series, Sid Meier's Pirates Remake, GTA series, Bethesda titles like the Elder Scrolls, hell, my list is huge! I would buy them all again here, even if i had them pirated from piratebay since years ago (and some like bloodlines i own retail legit).

Steam has a problem with its games being pirated. Because they remove nasty DRM and liberate you from the horrific steamworks environment. Those guys, now, have a problem; we, on the other hand, i think not.

I didn't say that there aren't any (well, if I said it it was an exaggeration and using Thalinor's claim as a basis), obviously there are demos but I think one can safely say that the percentage of games that have demos has gone down a huge lot over the years. Games that simply *had to* have a demo in the past often don't have 'em now. Just explaining why that's the case.
Sigh... the entire content of the Pirate Bay has been back upped by Iso Hunt, branded as Old Pirate Bay and is actually still getting new content (at least some tech website reported activity). Also the previous domain has currently some big countdown going on which suggests yet another rebirth.

CAN I HUG YOU AND KISS YOU? You made my day!

There are probably a lot of people who await PirateBay's return. It would be a shame to lose them permanently.