Gamers who get their titles without having to pay for them at their original retail prices would have noticed that in 2015, major games might not have performed as you would have hoped. Getting ‘pirated’ and ‘cracked’ games to run on your PC involves executing a fair amount of copy-pasting acrobatics and modifications. And even after that, it’s a chore to make them work at a playable frame rate.
The reason why this is happening in higher frequencies is because according to piracy groups, video games’ anti-copy protection measures have become so effectively good at doing their thing that titles are taking a very long time to crack.
Now here is the fundamental question; will gaming titles have such improved anti-copy protection that games will become virtually un-crackable? Let us find out.
New Anti-Piracy Measures Like Denuvo Are Making It Difficult
According to a forum report, pirates have become increasingly frustrated with the level of protection that released games come with. An example of this is the game Dragon Age: Inquisition, which was successfully cracked after a month, a time considered an eternity in piracy circles.
This is because such titles come with a form of security called Denuvo, which has really started to push the capabilities of pirates. Just Cause 3, one of the biggest game releases of 2015, still remains uncracked because according to the latest info, the last stage of Denuvo is proving too difficult to crack. Same’s the case with FIFA 16.
In a post on 3DM, the forum’s founder apprised of the progress on cracking JC3 and future games with Denuvo:
I still believe that this game can be compromised. But according to current trends in the development of encryption technology, in two years’ time I’m afraid there will be no free games to play in the world.
So does this mean that piracy will be eradicated forever? Maybe that’s a far stretch.
However, by suggesting that games will become extremely difficult to pirate, there is reason to believe that anti-piracy measures are working. It would be simple in such a scenario to just go out and purchase a legitimate copy of your favorite game title.
What Does This Mean For PC Gamers In Pakistan?
Majority of the gaming community in Pakistan has relied on pirated titles for their source of entertainment and now that the future is looking is looking pretty bleak on this front, they will have no choice but to invest in the game.
However, looking at the titles released in 2015, we have to say that reputed gaming developers who work for publishers such as WB, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are pressured to release the game on time, which obviously means that they do not have sufficient time to properly test their games.
This results in a broken game title (looking at you Batman: Arkham Knight on PC), which obviously means that gamers do not get their money’s worth, so what exactly can be done to improve the situation?
What Incentive Can Developers Provide For Gamers Living In Regions Like Pakistan?
For starters, developers can properly debug the game before actually launching it. Naturally, due to the complexity of the game, there are bound to be issues, but these can be addressed thanks to timely updates in the future.
Secondly, developing companies could start a beta-testing phase where they allow gamers to play a limited version of a title for a specific time period and depending on whether or not they like it, they can purchase it or leave it. This is something we believe can make gamers happy and bring in a steady stream of revenue for companies as well.
We cannot tell you how many times gamers have pre-ordered expensive titles, only for them to end up bitterly disappointed thanks to the lack of content and technical issues plaguing their experience. This will eventually cause them to resort to piracy, which can result in two outcomes:
- Publishers will systematically increase the retail price of their games, while introducing paid DLC and expansions that actually cost 50 percent of the entire retail price of the original game.
- Hard working developers, who have put their time, energy and resources in projects will either be out of a job, or will be picked up by companies with a very large monetary valuation and will have to work according to their business model, which are mostly concerned with filling their own pockets.
The issue also comes with owning PC hardware, which costs a lot in Pakistan thanks to additional costs, and it does not look like they will come down anytime soon so for the PC gaming community to actually start respecting the developers’ efforts, all things will have to be considered.
So what do you think folks? Is PC Gaming going to go legit in Pakistan? Or not? Let us know in the comments below.
Disclaimer: Propakistani does not condone piracy of intellectual property in any form.
thankyou
for what?
Raheel Sharif
As much as I dislike piracy myself, this article couldn’t be farther from the truth. PC pirating industry is not going away any time soon. The GOG store sells all of its games completely DRM free, so they can be played just by copying them to another PC. And just because Denuvo is taking a longer time to crack doesn’t mean its security is impregnable.
DRM is a major pain the neck even for paying customers. GTA V has to verify its license every day or so, or it won’t launch. UPlay is famous for a myriad of problems including corrupting save games and not launching purchased games without the UPlay client. The pirates don’t even have to go through the bother, they can play however and whenever they like; this aspect sometimes makes me regret buying the games. The game industry has to develop a better way to protect its copyright without making it a bother for its paying customers.
And people, at least start paying for games that deserve the money for the effort, for eg: Witcher 3 and Divinity: Original Sin.
‘So does this mean that piracy will be eradicated forever? Maybe that’s a far stretch.’ This line shows that piracy is not going away anytime soon. And yes I have bought Witcher 3 and might I say its an amazing game
Are you the author of this article?
I just made a polite observation in a comment that I read the information you mentioned regarding denovo and the statement from 3dm, in an article on another website (TorrentFreak). I regularly follow news from that website and since that article was up on 6 Jan and yours was on 7 Jan, I made the assumption that you had also read that article and extracted its main points into your article. So I suggested that you should mention the source of your information; this is standard practice everywhere.
BUT my comment is still pending moderation and in the meanwhile other new comments have been published. That is why I am writing this in another comment. If I am mistaken in my views, then maybe you can correct me; I will not mind it at all.
Are you the author of this article?
I just made a polite observation in a comment that I read the information you mentioned regarding denovo and the statement from 3dm, in an article on another website (TorrentFreak). I regularly follow news from that website and since that article was up on 6 Jan and yours was on 7 Jan, I made the assumption that you had also read that article and extracted its main points into your article. So I suggested that you should mention the source of your information; this is standard practice everywhere.
BUT my comment is still pending moderation and in the meanwhile other new comments have been published. That is why I am writing this in another comment. If I am mistaken in my views, then maybe you can correct me; I will not mind it at all.
actually … its a v.good post.
keep it up !
EDIT : games should be more cheaper here … preferrably CHEAPER than 1000 pkr , to reach most segments of the economy here !
They should, then how will companies get their return on their investments?
its called a feasibility study … maybe the current currency climate is an obvious bad choice BUT that doesn’t guarantee that they will make losses here. maybe they can find another way to recoup some money. beats losing the game altogether to piracy.
Yea that’s the only way forward. Price according to the region. You can’t really expect an average Pakistani to pay $59 for a newly launched title.
Oh and If you make a buggy game (I’m looking at you Batman) don’t think for a second that I won’t pirate it.
true, The latest batman arkham knight is buggy
Then bycott these games can people in third world countries offord these games?Gtho of here.Also I think nes games like Mario are much better and enjoyable compared to these crack head modern games.
i just want PC hardware to become uber cheap !
oh and Denuvo can go scrw themselves … sooner or later some really talented hacker will break their protection ! they always rise out of the shadows when needed !
PC hardware will not become cheap in Pakistan because of our messed up custom issues.
prime reason why i HATE them !
The Piracy Era Will never come to end, And the way People Crack games are just phenomenal, I know of Games (Prince of Persia: Two Thrones, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Brian Lara, etc) comes with the Star Force Protection which is said to be the Unbreakable at that time, But they got cracked too, So i m really hopeful that either Denuvo or any other Protection won’t last very long… Cheers…!!!
this is all happening thanx to raheel sharif
If PTCL fixes its infrastructure and game servers are installed in Pakistan, I will happily buy games for their online functionality. I bought FIFA 14 for PC in past and I was disappointed from the online experience. I am living in a small city of upper sindh btw and PTCL should focus on all areas instead of the big cities
@omarsohail:disqus
I think you should mention the source for the paragraph you have written under the bold heading ” New Anti-Piracy Measures Like Denuvo Are Making It Difficult “.
I read this information in an article on the website TorrentFreak. The article was published on 6 January and if I’m not mistaken TorrentFreak is usually the first to publish news regarding these topics. Here is the link:
https://torrentfreak.com/no-more-pirate-games-in-two-years-group-warns-160106/
People need to leave pirated Side and buy original games also there is big discount on every games like 50-95% off on great games like batman,far cry4, witcher 3, black ops 3 etc and it contain No virus , clean & easy to install and there are Plenty of free to play games that you will enjoy too just Don’t Forget to review the game before purchasing it. the only PROBLEM in Pakistan Many gamers don’t have their debit or credit card for Online game purchase and Others don’t want to spend their money on games.
Debit cards are so cheap these days. You can get a prepaid MCB Lite card for Rs 300 a year.
Would you pay money for a broken game like Batman arkam knight? Secondly i have bought games on steam and pirated ones and they play exactly the same offline. Lastly if i want to buy a game i would use good-old-games rather than steam because of their excellent service.
That is what I am saying; a trial period should be introduced in which we will be able to experience the game first hand without paying for it.
That exists on Steam afaik
Hey, if you really are the author of this article, why aren’t you saying something regarding what I have pointed out to you?
“In a post on 3DM, the forum’s founder apprised of the progress on cracking JC3 and future games with Denuvo:
I still believe that this game can be compromised. But according to current trends in the development of encryption technology, in two years’ time I’m afraid there will be no free games to play in the world.”
And BTW whatever content that you see regarding the development of games is our own opinion. I’ve been a PC gamer all my life and I have been saying this for ages that instead of pirating games, we should purchase them instead, otherwise only the consumed and the ones who develop games with their heart and soul will suffer.
What about the following line:
“An example of this is the game Dragon Age: Inquisition, which was successfully cracked after a month, a time considered an eternity in piracy circles.”
How do you know that it took a month?
Here is what Wikipedia says :p
An independent Chinese warez group known as 3DM claimed to have defeated Denuvo Anti-Tamper on December 1, 2014. The group claimed that the technology involves a “64-bit encryption machine” that requires cryptographic keys unique to the specific hardware of each installed system.[3]
Later, in early December, the same group released a crack for the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition, which uses Denuvo Anti-Tamper to protect Electronic Arts’ Origin Online Access DRM.[4] Asked about the development, Denuvo acknowledged that “every protected game eventually gets cracked”.[4] Ars Technica noted that most legitimate sales for major games happened within 30 days of release, and so publishers may consider Denuvo a success if it meant a game took significantly longer for a game to be cracked.[5]
By late 2015, FIFA 15, Dragon Age Inquisition, Lords of the Fallen, Batman: Arkham Knight and Battlefield Hardline were all cracked by an Italian warez group called CPY (CONSPIRACY). Mad Max and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain were later cracked by 3DM
Look’s like this article has been taken from game-debate website but anyway its gives information… but atleast author should mention that he copied it from these… i mean isn’t there a thing like copyright or something for that…
Can you see the irony of the situation..?!! On the one hand the moral to be inferred is that people should buy games to support the developers hard work instead of turning to the ‘free’ option of using pirated games. And yet the author has blatantly copied some information from another article and is using it for ‘free’ without mentioning the article as a source.
And lo and behold, despite pointing this out to the author, he has decided to maintain a wall of silence instead of accepting or replying. And in this case, silence can mean that either he is ignorant or is ‘guilty’ and hence has chosen to ignore what i am saying.
The last pirated game i downloaded was back in 2013. I preordered 5 games in 2015 (TW3, JC3, MGSV, Fallout 4, WWE 2K15) and bought many other on deals. Same goes for many of my Pakistan’t friends who are added on steam.
The real gamers have been buying games for a long time and they will continue to do so in Pakistan. By real gamers i mean who have real good gaming pc’s (I have GTX 970 SLI). The last cd/dvd i bought was more then 5 years ago. I still have many cousins who buy pirated cds/dvds but i don’t consider them gamers as they have more then decade old systems and most of the time no graphics card whatsoever.
I have tons of friends who have PS3/Xbox 360/PS4 and 95% of them buy legit games, only a handful of them have cracked consoles so this really does’n’t effect the real gamers in Pakistan. It will really only effect kids who lets face it, won’t have beefy enough systems to run the newly released games anyway.
It will never be that simple to just make the piracy end ‘thanks to the constant anti-antipiracy hardwork of the Pirates’. I think its more like a sad attempt to respond to when failoverflow managed to run Linux on PS4 a few days back.
There is no security in any era which can’t be revealed !
~~ Dr. Imran memon
it is high time that Pakistan makes its own game consoles, develop its own games, so that no one has to rely on Xbox and Playstation any more. This game console should be exclusively Pakistani. I am sure there are plenty of IT professionals in Pakistan who can actually develop games. All that they need is investor who can set up gaming company. The games can be downloaded into that console and the payment is in Pakistani rupees only, not US Dollars. If the games are a success, there is no turning back.There will be plenty of game developers and our IT professionals will be fully employed.
benefits of piracy
for poors they can get contents easily to enjoy and use, and store.
easy to access with no need of money
hazards
lack of funds gone to developer n publisher on behalf of releasing upcoming games as purchasing method for getting content may transfer them as a fund so they can collect and use them to license to include the contents such as toyota ae86 license of toyota in nfs shift 2.
storing is ok in cloud but if we name it differently as content is something and name is something as stolen. content may consider to be stolen if stored illegally.