Tag Archives: piracy

Tropic Haze, the company behind the Yuzu emulator, is being sued by Nintendo. Yuzu has existed for a number of years already without issue, so what was the straw that broke the camel's back? Well, that would be the mass piracy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.  …

While it is pretty typical to see new games launching with Denuvo in place, we rarely see games adding the controversial DRM post-release. This week following Ghostwire: Tokyo's Game Pass release and big Spider Thread update, Bethesda has implemented Denuvo.  The new Spider Thread update for Ghostwire: Tokyo does indeed …

While Denuvo isn't as popular nowadays as it once was, several major publishers still use the anti-piracy protection for PC games. Gotham Knights launched earlier this month with Denuvo in place, until a patch earlier this week mistakenly removed it from the game. Now, Denuvo has been put back in …

While Denuvo was once very effective at stopping PC games piracy, the DRM has also faced plenty of controversy for being overly heavy and harming performance. Soon, Denuvo will be used on consoles too, with Irdeto making its DRM available to Nintendo Switch developers.  The Nintendo Switch has been a …

Last week, it was reported that EA's recent Skate 4 pre-alpha playtest build leaked online and has been cracked, allowing essentially anyone to play. EA has now confirmed the leak, but is urging fans not to download the current build due to its age.  When EA announced the Skate 4 …

Netflix has been known to increase its subscription prices every few years. Recently, prices rose in the US and in May, prices will also be going up in the UK and other countries.  Netflix has begun sending out emails to subscribers, warning them of the upcoming price increase for each …

Last year as part of a continued crackdown on piracy, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Gary Bowser, one of the leaders of Team Xecuter, a group responsible for Nintendo Switch hacking and piracy tools. Several months ago, Bowser plead guilty to charges, and now, he'll spend just over three years …

During the PlayStation 4 generation, Sony was able to keep a tight grip on console security, with hackers only beginning to figure out jailbreaking methods in 2018, years after the console's launch. With the PS5 now out in the wild, hacking groups are already working on unlocking the console, and …

Earlier this year as part of a continued crackdown on piracy, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Gary Bowser, who was allegedly one of the leaders of Team Xecuter, a group responsible for Nintendo Switch hacking and piracy tools. Now months later, Bowser has pleaded guilty to several charges.  As part …

Over the last few years, Nintendo has been looking to take down a number of console emulator and ROM download websites. Two major ones were taken down in 2018 and this year, Nintendo has won a lawsuit against another.  Nintendo of America first filed its lawsuit against RomUniverse in 2019, …

Nintendo of America is continuing its crackdown on Nintendo Switch piracy and hacking groups this year with a new lawsuit filed against Gary Bowser, who is said to have been one of the leaders of the group ‘Team Xecuter'.  The lawsuit, which was spotted by Polygon, alleges that Bowser infringed …

Back in October, we learned that Nintendo had won a lawsuit against people attempting to sell Nintendo Switch hacking tools. Now, Nintendo has set its sights on other sellers, leading to another legal battle.  This time around, Nintendo is suing an Amazon seller known as ‘Le Hoang Minh', which has …

Rockstar has been able to keep Red Dead Redemption 2 out of the hands of pirates for a long time now but after a full year, scene cracking groups have caught up.  Red Dead Redemption 2 remained uncracked since launch until earlier today, when a group released their working, cracked …

Back in May, Nintendo took aim at a retailer known as Uberchips, taking legal action against the store for selling hacking tools to enable piracy on Nintendo Switch consoles. The case has had a quick turnaround, with a judge ordering the seller to pay $2 million in damages to Nintendo.  …

Denuvo has been the number one choice of DRM for major publishers for quite some time now. Occasionally though, a studio will screw up its implementation and pave the way for swift piracy despite intentions to protect at least the first week of sale. We saw this happen with Mass Effect …

Earlier this week, GOG announced a change to its refund policy, giving customers of the DRM-free games store a 30-day refund window. Refunds can be obtained at any point within those 30 days, whether the game has been downloaded and played or not. It is the most generous refund policy …

Back in the early days of YouTube when there were fewer algorithms policing content, Viacom sued the company for participating in copyright infringement. Now, Twitch is facing a similar situation, with the live-streaming platform being sued over pirate broadcasts of Premier League matches.  The case is being levied against Twitch …

Over the years, torrent sites have evolved to not just offer downloads, but streaming options too. Apps like Popcorn Time have helped popularise BitTorrent streaming and now the most infamous piracy site in the world is also rolling out the feature with a new site called ‘BayStream'.  The Pirate Bay …

Nintendo is often fighting against piracy. In the past we have seen the company shut down various ROM sites directly but here in the UK, Nintendo is now trying a new tactic, with the High Court of Justice ordering ISPs to block access to Switch piracy sites. Over the last …

Denuvo has been the number one choice of DRM for major publishers for quite some time now. Occasionally though, a studio will screw up its implementation and pave the way for swift piracy despite intentions to protect at least the first week of sale. We saw this happen with Mass …

It’s not uncommon to see distributors of piracy-enabled hardware end up the court room, but the operators of copyright infringing websites rarely face the consequences. Spanish anti-piracy efforts are hoping to change that, as entertainment groups are seeking jail sentences and half a billion dollars in damages against four alleged …

Germany has been increasingly cracking down on piracy over the past decade, sending notices to those that have breached copyright and engaged in file sharing. Local law has continually protected parents from testifying against their children, who are sometimes known to be the perpetrators, but a landmark case has seen …

The current generation of consoles from both Microsoft and Sony have been relatively well shielded from piracy over the last few years. However, over the course of this year, hackers have managed to chip away at the PS4’s armour, with jailbreaks now available for certain PS4 firmware versions. One particular …

As one of the most anticipated releases of 2016, it’s not surprising to know that Deadpool was subject to mass piracy following its release. A Californian man caught uploading one of the first copies of the film to Facebook has now been charged with a three-week prison sentence down from …

Streaming services are becoming a dime a dozen as everyone wants a slice of Netflix pie, with many banking on exclusive content to draw the numbers in. This seems to have frustrated consumers, however, with the increasing number of subscriptions required to consume content pushing people back towards piracy. Netflix’s …

Over the last couple of years, a cracker known as Voksi has been tearing down Denuvo's anti-tamper protection one game at a time. Voksi became renowned for getting through the protection pretty quickly over the course of 2017, but it looks like the police have managed to track him down. …

The United Kingdom has been cracking down on piracy throughout the past year, taking aim at ‘fully loaded’ Kodi boxes and the distributors of Showbox. Multiple jail sentences have been handed out thanks to the new efforts, with owners of the now-defunct Oobersticks operation being the latest offenders to be …

Team Xecuter is rather infamous in console hacking circles. Whilst many people feel it should be an open-source and profit-free endeavour, Team Xecuter have always tried to make money with their exploits. Their Nintendo Switch offering is no different costing $25 and containing “brick code” that will brick consoles when …

Over the last year, console hackers and modders have been chipping away at the Nintendo Switch, discovering what makes the console tick and how to work around its security. At this point, playing pirated games on a Switch is perfectly possible, so Nintendo is cracking down with some strict new …

Kodi has long been the main target in the war on piracy, with a major win for copyright seeing two UK-based fully-loaded Kodi box sellers receiving jail time for running a fraudulent business. It seems another piracy-enabling application has been dragged back into the forefront again, however, as movie executives …