Piracy has been a problem in the gaming industry almost since the beginning. Over time game developers (and publishers) have attempted to counter this pernicious problem with various anti-piracy measures. Some of these anti-piracy techniques are more direct like the much hated always online DRM, and the change to optical media in the mid-90s. However, there are some developers that get clever with their anti-piracy methods. There are also some companies that accept piracy will occur no matter what techniques they employ, and instead find ways to trick people into admitting they are playing a pirated copy of their game.
Updated January 17th, 2021, by Thomas Bowen: While piracy is all but unheard of on most modern day consoles, it once ran rampant throughout the gaming industry. Mod-chips and bootleg cartridges allowed criminals to sell illegal copies of games for a fraction of their retail value whilst hacks and cracks helped PC gamers to download the newest titles without paying a penny. Rather than relying on the long arm of the law to deal with this problem, however, many developers decided to take matters into their own hands. These are just some of the more creative solutions that they came up with.
15 Earthbound
The team over at HAL Laboratory went to great lengths in order to prevent players from pirating Earthbound. Some of them are fairly simple, like having the game check the region of the console or making sure that the cartridge doesn't have more memory than it's supposed to. Those who make changes to the rom to get around these will encounter some far more devilish measures though.
Hacked copies of the game will greatly increase the number of enemies that the player encounters which can make the game far more difficult and tedious to play. Even if players battle through this plethora of additional enemies, however, they still won't be able to complete the game. Upon arriving at the game's final boss, the screen will freeze forcing them to reset. Upon doing so, they'll find that all of their save files have been completely deleted; effectively eradicating around 28 hours of hard work.
14 Garry's Mod
No matter how much work is put into designing anti-piracy measures, people are always going to find a way to crack them. It can sometimes take only a matter of minutes or in other instances a couple of months. Ultimately though - much like death and taxes - it's something of an inevitability. Knowing this, Garry's Mod creator Garry Newman took a slightly different approach.
Rather than trying to stop people from running pirated copies of the game, he instead programmed in a special error message that reads "Unable to shade polygon normals" and is accompanied by a unique error code which identifies the player's Steam ID. Naturally, many of those affected took to forums to inquire about the error, allowing Garry to identify their accounts and also those who'd purchased the game legitimately to laugh at these dastardly deviants' stupidity.
13 The Witcher 2
Much like its 2015 sequel, the Witcher 2 allows players to romance many of the game's NPCs and even treats them to some fairly rudimentary 'sex' scenes for doing so. Those playing on pirated copies of the game are in for a bit of a shock though, with romanced NPCs replaced by a creepy old lady named Marietta Loredo. This wasn't the only measure that CDPR put in place either.
The game also includes a selection of randomly triggered cutscenes in which Geralt is killed. Sadly, however, neither the sight of Geralt getting it on with Marietta nor the threat of sporadic deaths was enough to deter the many would be pirates out there, which ultimately led to the developer tracking some of them down and requesting financial compensation. As one might expect; the very real threat of possible legal action proved far more effective.
12 Alan Wake
The team over at Remedy Entertainment adopted a similar tactic when designing Alan Wake, although rather than trying to out these criminals to the community, they instead wanted to shame them in private. Whether or not it actually worked out that way is hard to say though.
If the game caught any whiff of piracy, the game's protagonist would be shown wearing an eye-patch throughout the game. It had no real bearing on how the game played nor did it prevent completion. What it did do though is constantly remind affected players exactly what they were. Dirty, stinking pirates. The same thing happens in pirated copies of the studio's 2016 title Quantum Break as well.
11 Red Alert 2
Those wanting to succeed in Red Alert 2 have to focus on two things. Firstly, they'll need to build up a strong selection of units with which to take on enemies and stave off attacks. Secondly - and perhaps most importantly - they'll need to keep their base standing in order to avoid the dreaded 'game over' screen. It's therefor quite fitting then that EA opted to target these two areas when designing the game's anti-piracy measures.
Within 30 seconds of a new game beginning, those playing on pirated copies of could only watch as their base and units self-destructed causing the game to end instantly. In many ways, this was actually quite generous of EA, as many developers would have instead opted to allow players to sink some time into the game before initiating this self-destruct sequence.
10 The Secret Of Monkey Island
In the early days of PC gaming piracy was rampant. It was incredibly easy to copy games – all that was needed was a blank disk, and of course a PC. This lead to an early method of anti-piracy, or “copy protection” as it was known at the time, where the player needed a legit copy of the game to answer a question. The question was typically like, “What is the second letter of the first word in the first paragraph on page 4 of the game manual”.
Early versions of The Secret of Monkey Island included a wheel with a spinning inner wheel, called the “Dial-A-Pirate”. The player would need to line up the top and lower halves of the indicated character’s face to get the correct four digit code. This code-wheel system would be used by many companies in the late 1980s and 90s.
9 Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead was a follow-up title to the over-achieving original Crysis game that featured a hilarious anti-piracy technique. The game did have a version of SecuROM that digitally authenticated a properly acquired copy of the game – but that’s not what earned Crysis Warhead a spot on this list. There is an anti-piracy measure in this game that causes the player’s weapons to shoot chickens in pirated copies. These chickens don’t cause any damage to enemies (though they will stagger them); this leaves only physical attacks as a means for the player to cause damage. This makes Crysis Warhead a lot more amusing to play/watch, but it also makes it nearly impossible to beat.
8 Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum launched a series of games that many consider to be the best of all time. This game succeeded at something that many before had failed to do – make the player feel like they were Batman. One of the best features of the series is the ability to glide through the air. Many parts of the game actually require players to use this gliding ability to advance. So when the developers were deciding on anti-piracy measures they decided to focus on the gliding ability – which is absent in pirated copies. Instead of gracefully gliding to the next platform, Batman drops like a rock. This effectively makes this game unbeatable.
7 Mirror’s Edge
EA is famous for their online Origin system for DRM (digital rights management). Though with Mirror’s Edge EA decided to go a bit further and added a “feature” that only appears in a pirated copy of the game. The protagonist in Mirror’s Edge frequently utilizes parkour for getting from point A to point B.
Parkour involves a lot of constant motion, jumping, and tumbling skills. Pirated copies of this game reverse the protagonist’s momentum, causing her to slow down when running instead of accelerating. This makes the game completely unplayable – as the first big jump players encounter is rendered uncrossable.
6 Sims 4
The Sims games have always been a bit modest in terms of adult content. When a character in these games does something that is normally done in private the game will pixelate the “offending” area. To punish those players who play the Sims 4 with a pirated copy, EA/Maxis decided to take this “modesty” to another level. When performing one of these pixelating actions, like taking a shower or using the toilet, players of a pirated copy will soon discover the pixelated area remains after the action is complete. Those who choose to ignore this effect and continue will soon find themselves playing with the entire screen pixelated.
5 Serious Sam 3
The Serious Sam games have always featured chaotic combat in large, open areas against hordes of enemies. The games are also known for having a bit of humor in them; so when setting a trap for pirated copies the developers had a little fun. Players playing a pirated copy of Serious Sam 3 will initially think nothing is amiss; however that soon changes in hilarious (and freighting) fashion. The game will spawn a pink arachnoid that is immune to damage, incredibly fast, and can attack from close and long range. Encountering this arachnoid is terrifying at first; though watching it slide along the ground at break-neck speed and shrug-off every attack is also more than a little smile-inducing.
4 The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Nintendo is famous for their anti-piracy measures. In the early days some Nintendo consoles employed physical anti-piracy techniques; like their Famicom Disk System, which employed a mechanical sensor that fit into the word “Nintendo” molded into the disk. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks uses a very clever and game-breaking anti-piracy method.
Normally when Link operates the train there are controls along the side of the screen that allow the player to speed up, slow down, and stop the train. Players of pirated copies have to play without these train controls though – meaning the game is unplayable nearly from the start.
3 Skullgirls
Skullgirls is a hidden gem among modern fighting games. The fluid gameplay, responsive controls, and colorful cast of playable characters have made it somewhat of a cult classic. Knowing piracy is difficult to stop, the developers included a little change to pirated copies of the game to trick the pirates. After finishing the game, pirated copies will display a message that reads, “What is the square root of a fish? Now I’m sad.” This has caused message boards and sub-Reddits for the game to be peppered with questions by players asking about “the square root of a fish” – revealing to the world that they pirated Skullgirls.
2 Arma II
Arma II is a great open-world first-person shooter. It had large, open battlefields, a ton of different weapons to try, and over a hundred vehicles the player can control. The developers also included an anti-piracy package called DEGRADE into Arma II. This causes the game to change slightly over time until it is eventually rendered unplayable. The fist change is that the accuracy of the player’s weapons will begin to worsen. The game then begins causing the screen to become wavy; simulating the effect of playing while drunk. Finally, the game will begin filling the screen with Arma II logos.
1 Game Dev Tycoon
Game Dev Tycoon is a game where players attempt to run a successful game development studio. So when developer Greenheart Games was deciding on what anti-piracy method they would use, they chose the option steeped in irony. Those playing on a pirated copy can progress through the game as normal, but once they become too successful a nasty surprise will be waiting. The player’s newer games will suddenly stop being as successful as their previous ones; causing their development studio to have financial problems. An employee will eventually inform the player that their games are being pirated, and there is nothing they can do to save their company. This caused those that pirated the game to flood message boards with questions about how to avoid the in-game piracy.