Controversy Erupts As Rockstar Games Distributes Cracked Game Versions

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12th Sep, 2023. 03:49 pm
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Rockstar Games accidentally sold cracked versions of their PC games.
This incident underscores the importance of video game preservation.
DRM removal has made older games compatible with modern hardware.

Rockstar Games, renowned for titles like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has a history of issuing DMCA takedown notices, often targeting fan-made mods, sometimes leading to legal disputes. While many game studios and publishers embrace fan-made content, Rockstar has been particularly protective of its Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, which makes their recent actions all the more contradictory.

In an unusual turn of events, it has come to light that Rockstar Games was inadvertently selling PC versions of their games that had been cracked by the gaming community. These cracks were created to remove the DRM piracy protection, effectively allowing free play, or pirating, of the games. For example, Max Payne 2 utilized a crack by a group called Myth, active in the early 2000s, and code from Razor 1911 was discovered in Manhunt. Although these cracks were discovered years ago, it has since emerged that Rockstar Games had been unknowingly distributing cracked versions of many of its other titles on Steam.

Even the now-delisted Midnight Club 2 was found to contain a crack by Razor 1911. Surprisingly, Rockstar Games has not responded to this discovery. This situation underscores the importance of video game preservation, a concern that many publishers have not prioritized. Removing DRM checks has enabled older games to run on modern hardware, leading to the popularity of websites like My Abandonware and initiatives such as the Video Game History Foundation, which establishes museums to preserve physical media. It’s also why classic titles can be sold on platforms like Steam; rebuilding an old game without its protection can be costly, assuming the source code still exists. If developers have lost the source code, re-releasing the game becomes nearly impossible, resulting in some games being offered as emulated versions of the originals.

These are likely not the only games on Steam and other platforms that use cracks, and more may come to light in the future. While illegal, these instances highlight the importance of cracking communities in preserving gaming history, ensuring that these titles remain playable for years to come. It would be beneficial to see developers and publishers embrace preservation efforts rather than consistently opposing them.

Controversy Erupts As Rockstar Games Distributes Cracked Game Versions

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