Some of the best ways game developers are fighting piracy

Piracy is a major issue in the world today – people think they do not have to pay for the hard work of the team behind movies, TV shows and games, so they download it instead.

It’s an issue that developers are fighting on a daily basis, and sometimes these fights lead to rather clever ways to prevent piracy from happening in their game.

These “pirate-traps” include locking players out of certain important abilities, or simply adding an eye patch to ridicule the player who illegally downloaded the game.

Here are some really clever anti-piracy measures in video games:

Quantum Break – Shiver me timbers!

The latest installment from Remedy Entertainment, Quantum Break is all about time powers and such, so when you see somebody post an image with an eye patch, then you know they are up to no good.

Those who downloaded the game illegally, or “borrowed” it off a friend’s external hard drive, were welcomed to a Jack Joyce wearing an eye patch.

The patch does not do anything to Jack, but rather shows that you are a thief (or just unlucky enough to be disconnected from the games online servers).

This is not the first time that Remedy have used the pirate patch to point out illegal copies of the game, as the eye patch was also in Alan Wake.

Serious Sam 3 – Scorpion Troll

Serious Sam is all about killing ferocious enemies pretty quickly, and while the game is fast-paced and full of action, there is a small surprise in it for those who pirated the game.

An immortal red scorpion will appear in pirated copies and troll the player by simply not dying.

Try as you will, this scorpion will chase yo thievin’ ass down and kill you every time.

There is no escaping it, like there is no escaping your low morals and poor life decisions which led to the scorpion chasing you.

The Talos Principle – Pirates Get Locked away

The Talos Principle is all about puzzles and solving them, one puzzle which you cannot solve is the one where pirates get stuck in a lift in mid-air.

If you pirated the game in any manner, when moving from the first location to the next, you will be treated to a nice cage-like prison which you will be unable to escape as it locks up and stops moving in the air.

This is probably to replicate the real way which pirates should be treated, locked behind bars in humiliation.

Game Dev Tycoon – Piracy hits pirates

In Game Dev Tycoon, the game about making a game and selling it, if you pirate the game, the game which you are making will be pirated too.

Mid-way through your sales report, if you are using the pirated version of the game, the same impact that piracy has on the gaming industry will affect your game.

Eventually you will lose way too much money and be forced to declare bankruptcy. Like how it feels? Could you imagine it actually being your studio?

Dark Souls – You are dead, again!

As hard as Dark Souls is, its difficulty can be mastered if played correctly. Unfortunately for those who pirated the game, the same cannot be said.

A dark phantom called “From Software” invaded pirates during the starting level.

This phantom has 99 skills on every stat, as well as a one hit kill attack. The worst thing about this phantom is that it not only attacked pirates, but also media who logged into the game early due to review purposes.

Awww, I’m sure he just wants a cuddle.

Eathbound – The Ultimate Anti-Piracy Measure

Forget everything you have heard about anti-piracy – Earthbound had the most unforgiving anti-piracy measure implemented into the game we have ever heard.

If you are playing the cracked copy of the game, you were in a for a surprise as the enemy count was almost tripled compared to the original copy of the game.

To make matters worse, if you managed to grind through the enemies all the way to the end of the game, during the last fight against Gigyas, the game would freeze and then wipe your save data completely.

It will then force you to reset your game and start all over again. Talk about the biggest trolling in gaming.