All of us have seen how developers and publishers criticize PC gamers for pirating their games. Many publishers also do everything possible to fight piracy by implementing draconian DRM protection systems in their games. But can you imagine a company that downloads and then sells pirated/cracked games? That is exactly what Rockstar did.
Discovered by the modder “Silent,” the Steam version of Midnight Club 2 is actually a version cracked by the group “Razor 1911” back in 2003.
As seen from the HEX editor used by Silent, the Steam version of Midnight Club 2 bears the signature of Razor 1911. Thus, instead of releasing the original version of Midnight Club 2, Rockstar uploaded the cracked version to sell it. And it’s hilarious.
What’s even more amusing is that Rockstar might have done this because they failed to remove the DRM that the original game was equipped with. So, apparently, it was easier to just download the cracked version and distribute it on Steam.
Ironically, this is not the first time Rockstar has been caught selling cracked games on Steam. Previously, Rockstar did the same with Manhunt and Max Payne 2.
This clearly shows why piracy is so important for preserving games. It also demonstrates how hypocritical many (not all) major gaming companies are. Rockstar was definitely unhappy with all those NoDVD/NoCD cracks in the 90s and 2000s. Even its parent company is against modifications.
Article from www.playground.ru