4 ms·

Maybe it's just me not being a college student with a very constrained budget anymore, but is using cracked games still a thing nowadays? My impression was that

by jupp0r 6y ago

Maybe it's just me not being a college student with a very constrained budget anymore, but is using cracked games still a thing nowadays? My impression was that it was very widespread until the mid/late 2000s because it was the most convenient way to get a game (ie without going into a physical store or mail ordering games). This should be alleviated by steam/stadia/etc nowadays, right?

ineedasername 6y ago
I'm ambivalent on the issue of piracy through lack of money. I mean, it's not really a lost sale, and it could generate a repeat paying customer later. Especially as you get out of your teens/early 20's and tend to have more disposable income, and price is the easier barrier to leap than sketchy torrents and cracks.
renewiltord 6y ago
Still a big scene. Maybe bigger (absolute terms, not percentage) because gaming is such a huge market now. For the big games like RDR2 or the newer Assassin's Creeds, the DRM probably paid back way more than it cost.
vmception 6y ago
I'm generally curious about this too. Cracking got harder and licensed distribution in the 2010s became as convenient and consumer friendly as it unlicensed distribution was for pirates in the early 2000s. Region locked games started disappearing, coinciding with less physical media needs to begin with. Flagship titles started being released cross region simultaneously. Downloads and streaming was available and fast. The marketplaces and discovery gradually got better too, still limited here but not better than what the marketplaces distributing unlicensed content have. There is also the part about the budget, but I'm not sure. Expense was a factor, but I'm not sure how big of a factor. The things people do on Steam and other marketplaces is similar to what pirates were doing: downloading a ton of games for free because they could, but only playing the flagship games and never touching the other ones. So the pirates-turned-consumers are still only buying a handful of games, and now also have access to the promotions and plethora of free stuff as the always-consumers.
- withinboredom 6y ago
  I know a guy, makes minimum wage, poor as shit. Known him a long time, but for how poor he his, he is rich in games. He doesn’t even pay for IAP on his phone, somehow he gets that free. It’s always hilarious when he messages me: “hey, have you played X yet?” And my response is, “no.” He sends me the torrent. I just pay for the games, because I can afford it and I know if he says it’s good, I’ll probably enjoy it. I imagine there are other people like me, where the pirating actually drives sales. But yeah, to the people who don’t make tons of money, it’s often the only way they’ll ever play the game.
  - vmception 6y ago
    Yes, I was factoring that in but I dont think its that big of a factor, when I was in the scene pirates were estimates to being 1-2% of players. So even thinking about how pirates are advertisements for the game, I’m skeptical of their impact. From what I can tell, technical literacy has gone down in Gen Z.
    - imtringued 6y ago
      I have seen some youtube game reviewers openly admit that they acquired some of their games through piracy.
- tpxl 6y ago
  In the past I have cracked the games I bought because they needed windows live or some such bullshit to play an offline only game.
nyolfen 6y ago
there is a substantially larger gaming market now, especially in the global south where $60 means a lot more
canada_dry 6y ago
> is using cracked games still a thing nowadays? Some friends still run the odd cracked game/app. A couple decades ago I didn't discourage it, but nowadays I advise that the hacking scene is filled with seriously malicious actors and protection via anti-rootkit/virus apps is pretty weak.
Stevvo 6y ago
Regardless of if using cracked games is still thing, the practice of cracking games will persist. Those who crack games do it for the technical challenge, without deriving any financial benefit from it.
zanny 6y ago
Two things: 1. Once someone overcomes the upfront information barrier to piracy continued piracy has barely a convenience differential from using official channels. The user going to the steam page to enter their credit card and buy the game is doing as much work as the insider pirate knowing the right trackers to source a cracked version from that often comes with its own one click installer. Especially when official releases encumber the game in DRM that often breaks it for some fraction of legitimate buyers. 2. Games are still, if not region locked, regionally released. You still often cannot get AAA titles within months of publication at any price in many countries and if you can they often cost more than a whole days pay. There is a market to play the latest titles when you have no practical access to them where you live.
panchicore3 6y ago
Also trying to find something, as layman looking for pirated stuff, you will stumble upon with a lot of fake executables filling the os with garbage, fake surveys promising the file, and off course porn. Always thought that burdensome journey to find stuff was very convenient fighting against crackers, not that crackers had to make it this way.
zerr 6y ago
Not everyone lives in 1st world countries. $60 is more than a monthly salary in many countries - for such reasons, I think DRM should be inconvenient enough so that 1st world won't bother, i.e. buy the game, but it shouldn't be very hard so kids in Africa can also enjoy the game.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

by jupp0r 6y ago

ineedasername 6y ago

I'm ambivalent on the issue of piracy through lack of money. I mean, it's not really a lost sale, and it could generate a repeat paying customer later. Especially as you get out of your teens/early 20's and tend to have more disposable income, and price is the easier barrier to leap than sketchy torrents and cracks.

renewiltord 6y ago

Still a big scene. Maybe bigger (absolute terms, not percentage) because gaming is such a huge market now. For the big games like RDR2 or the newer Assassin's Creeds, the DRM probably paid back way more than it cost.

vmception 6y ago

I'm generally curious about this too. Cracking got harder and licensed distribution in the 2010s became as convenient and consumer friendly as it unlicensed distribution was for pirates in the early 2000s. Region locked games started disappearing, coinciding with less physical media needs to begin with. Flagship titles started being released cross region simultaneously. Downloads and streaming was available and fast. The marketplaces and discovery gradually got better too, still limited here but not better than what the marketplaces distributing unlicensed content have. There is also the part about the budget, but I'm not sure. Expense was a factor, but I'm not sure how big of a factor. The things people do on Steam and other marketplaces is similar to what pirates were doing: downloading a ton of games for free because they could, but only playing the flagship games and never touching the other ones. So the pirates-turned-consumers are still only buying a handful of games, and now also have access to the promotions and plethora of free stuff as the always-consumers.

withinboredom 6y ago
I know a guy, makes minimum wage, poor as shit. Known him a long time, but for how poor he his, he is rich in games. He doesn’t even pay for IAP on his phone, somehow he gets that free. It’s always hilarious when he messages me: “hey, have you played X yet?” And my response is, “no.” He sends me the torrent. I just pay for the games, because I can afford it and I know if he says it’s good, I’ll probably enjoy it. I imagine there are other people like me, where the pirating actually drives sales. But yeah, to the people who don’t make tons of money, it’s often the only way they’ll ever play the game.
- vmception 6y ago
  Yes, I was factoring that in but I dont think its that big of a factor, when I was in the scene pirates were estimates to being 1-2% of players. So even thinking about how pirates are advertisements for the game, I’m skeptical of their impact. From what I can tell, technical literacy has gone down in Gen Z.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    I have seen some youtube game reviewers openly admit that they acquired some of their games through piracy.
tpxl 6y ago
In the past I have cracked the games I bought because they needed windows live or some such bullshit to play an offline only game.

nyolfen 6y ago

there is a substantially larger gaming market now, especially in the global south where $60 means a lot more

canada_dry 6y ago

> is using cracked games still a thing nowadays? Some friends still run the odd cracked game/app. A couple decades ago I didn't discourage it, but nowadays I advise that the hacking scene is filled with seriously malicious actors and protection via anti-rootkit/virus apps is pretty weak.

Stevvo 6y ago

Regardless of if using cracked games is still thing, the practice of cracking games will persist. Those who crack games do it for the technical challenge, without deriving any financial benefit from it.

zanny 6y ago

Two things: 1. Once someone overcomes the upfront information barrier to piracy continued piracy has barely a convenience differential from using official channels. The user going to the steam page to enter their credit card and buy the game is doing as much work as the insider pirate knowing the right trackers to source a cracked version from that often comes with its own one click installer. Especially when official releases encumber the game in DRM that often breaks it for some fraction of legitimate buyers. 2. Games are still, if not region locked, regionally released. You still often cannot get AAA titles within months of publication at any price in many countries and if you can they often cost more than a whole days pay. There is a market to play the latest titles when you have no practical access to them where you live.

panchicore3 6y ago

Also trying to find something, as layman looking for pirated stuff, you will stumble upon with a lot of fake executables filling the os with garbage, fake surveys promising the file, and off course porn. Always thought that burdensome journey to find stuff was very convenient fighting against crackers, not that crackers had to make it this way.

zerr 6y ago

Not everyone lives in 1st world countries. $60 is more than a monthly salary in many countries - for such reasons, I think DRM should be inconvenient enough so that 1st world won't bother, i.e. buy the game, but it shouldn't be very hard so kids in Africa can also enjoy the game.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]