Yeah, that's good. Also should mean that even if Arcen goes under, all you have to do is track down a demo (from, say, ModDB) and plug in your key and you're set.

I should hope it doesn't come to that!

TL DR
I skimmed it.... I saw the thing about donating, anyone have an easy link to where to buy the game?
edit.. Got it, :) didnt get Tidalis yet... will later today or tomorrow or whenever i remember :P

They should sell Tidalis on BFG.

Tidalis doesn't look very fun to me, and I already bought AI War. I think that AI War's continuous expansion is neat, but that's not exactly the kind of business model a small developer can easily support.

http://www.arcengames.com/aiwar_buy.php
http://www.arcengames.com/tidalis_download.php

hehe yeah thanks :) just went to the basic site and found the link :) +1 tho for the help

Well, some positive stuff coming out of Arcen.
First off, it seems that the word getting out about their issues has juiced up their sales for the time being, which is good.
And they have clarified that the company IS debt free.

Great to hear.

Well, that's good. Nice to see a company to rely on the overdraft (unlike other companies I could mention *cough*RTW*cough*).

I've finally had the time to start downloading the demo for AI War. With any luck, they'll have another sale soon enough. :D
Supplemental: My toasted bagels, this game is absolutely beautiful!

Same here.
Furthermore, I don't understand the need to go and "rescue" Indie developers. It seems to me that, from what I've read on their own blog about the situation, Arcen Games overestimated the sales of Tidalis (and continued revenue from AI War, no doubt) and expanded too quickly; they're a small studio now with six (!) people on staff. The highest expense for any business is not office space (which they also don't have, I think), but people. That's why downsizing is always such an effective solution to cutting costs. However, the blog posts suggest that downsizing is not an option; that's nice, but it's hardly realistic, and it feels cheap to appeal to your fans to swoop in and bail you out.
When business is going poorly for, say, a butcher's or a grocer's, they don't put placards outside that explain how they are doing badly and asking people to please come in and buy something so they can survive for another month. They either find a solution (e.g. downsize or ask for a loan from a bank), or they go out of business. Customers c.q. fans propping up a business is hardly a realistic, long-term solution.
Introversion was in a similarly tight spot not too long ago. They managed to squeeze some money out of Steam sales, if I recall correctly (Multiwinia wasn't doing too hot, kind of like Tidalis, and this despite its better exposure due to the XBox release), and they also downsized their operation. They are now able to stay afloat and work on Subversion. If Arcen Games is to survive in the long term, they are going to have to make some changes to how their business is run and make sure they don't make the same mistakes again (viz. expanding based on your sales in the past few months, without taking into account market saturation and the chance that your new game may perform poorly as far as sales are concerned).
Edit: typo.

No ill will to these guys, and his blog post was certainly not antagonistic, but if you read it you will see that Tidalis being a pretty medoicre puzzle game in a market flooded with puzzle games is not a reason for their problems he is willing to consider.

I didn't just buy the game as an attempt to save their business (which is akin to the massive bailout that happened here in the States; money for nothing). I just bought it because, after having played the tutorial, it looked like an amazingly fun sci-fi epic space battle game with beautiful graphics. It was also the first I'd ever heard of their company. I don't think it was the plea for help that got them their new sales, I think it was the publicity and a larger audience hearing of their games for the first time.
I could be completely wrong though.
I completely agree about their bad business decisions though. I don't know how that company is set up, but if they literally are unable to fire anyone, then it's a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Coming in at excellent timing, James Portnow interviews Jeff Pobst about this very thing. It's worth a watch, if you're curious about behind the scenes stuff:
[url=]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1989-Pax-2010-Jeff-Pobst-Interview[/url]

Oh, I don't want to suggest that people now exclusively buy the game to save an Indie developer (instead of buying their games because they are good or enjoyable). But what I find dubious is the nature of all this free publicity (their blog, the report on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, etc.), which seems aimed at currying favour simply because they are "Indie" and they are in a financially difficult position right now. Why make that information public anyway? It's aimed clearly at having people take pity on you because you're "Indie". Just put your games on sale, downsize your crew, or go to the bank.
Edit: Thanks for the Jeff Pobst interview. He wasn't afraid of downsizing when the going got tough--there are lessons to be learned there.
And another edit (sorry): StingingVelvet, you're also right that it probably wasn't a smart thing to release yet another "match four" puzzle game in a market already flooded with many similar casual games, and that they are refusing to acknowledge that fact. Sticking your head in the sand and believing everything will turn out just fine if only you maintain faith is a sure and certain way to run your business into the ground.