NieR: Automata Is the Latest Victim of Software Pirates

Update: I’ve changed the title of this article to better reflect my views on piracy, as a kind reader took the time to share their opinion on the previous title. Neither I nor anyone involved with this website supports or encourages software piracy. We think that users who illegally download games are actively damaging developers and publishers and no amount of excuses will ever be enough to justify their actions.

PlatinumGames‘ excellent NieR:Automata is the latest victim of software pirates looking to bypass the successful Denuvo anti-tamper technology. The open world action RPG enjoyed almost two months of non-cracked time, and during that period it sold more than three hundred thousand copies on Steam. Hopefully gamers who still wish to acquire the Japanese masterpiece will opt for the Steam/retail way instead of donning the old eyepatch and peg leg.

Denuvo cracked NieR:Automata

Square Enix is a company prone to putting their games on sale after three months or so have passed since their release, so here at Gaming on PC we’d like to urge PC enthusiasts to wait for a discount instead of downloading NieR:Automata illegally. We know that many people abhor the concept of DRM, and that Denuvo has been a thorn on some gamers’ side ever since it was first unveiled, but pirating a game doesn’t send the right message to the publishers, and it just tells them that they must find a better DRM solution to protect their interests, even if it negatively affects their legitimate consumers.



24 thoughts on “NieR: Automata Is the Latest Victim of Software Pirates

    • So instead of pirating the game, buy from a storefront that frequently resells stolen keys? Makes sense.

      • I don’t recommend buying games from G2A and its ilk. CDkeys hasn’t been found guilty of selling stolen keys (as of today) so when I agreed to hvd2222’s comment I was referring to that alternative storefront (among others).
        Buying from the G2A market isn’t a very good idea since, as tinyBuild has denounced (among other devs) those sales can actually hurt smaller outfits if the source of the keys was some scumbag stealing them and then leaving the poor guys in charge of the legit store to deal with the fallout of declined credit cards, etc.

  1. I’ll be pirating it. If you wanna add drm that’s one thing. DRM that adds a full 60 seconds to game boot and extra load time at every load screen is unacceptable.

    • An added 60 seconds!?!?!
      You’re damn right thats unacceptable!
      There are enough things in life that take way to long, such as:
      Turning a light switch on.
      Flushing a toilet.
      But for drm to add 60 seconds to download time….. Omg the thought baffles me.
      These issues should be addressed.
      Seriously.

      • First, how do you know they don’t have a job? Second, how do you know they don’t already own the game and just want a DRM free version to be free of the consequences a poor Denuvo implementation can bring?

    • Wah cry me a river. Let me call you a Waaahhhhmbulance!

      Pirated games cost the developer hundreds of man hours of lost revenues.

      • Indeed. Also, as far as I know, Denuvo didn’t add a minute of loading times to NieR:Automata. Consumers may experience many issues thanks to the anti-tamper tech, but that doesn’t mean they should pirate the game. If people want to boycott a title because of its DRM solution, they shouldn’t buy it. Pirating games sends the wrong message, and publishers will look into even worse anti piracy solutions to combat that.

        • @David Dominguez

          A voice of reason among the lord of the flies. LOL

          I have no specific love for DRM, but I do feel creative people have a DUTY to protect their creative works. Quite honestly one of the reasons I game on the console is because most of the DRM efforts are pretty invisible to me.

          I feel terrible for the guy that legitimately buys a game and has issues because of DRM, but that has to be a very small number of people per title.

          I am also sick of pirates that justify what they do by saying, we aren’t stealing we are copying no one looses out. Nonsense the studio and publisher lose revenue. You can tell me you never intended to buy the game but I call BS — one thing for sure is you definitely won’t buy anything you get for free. This idea people use piracy as a “demo” program is nonsense.

          • I wholeheartedly agree with your comments. If someone has a machine that can play a game like NieR:Automata, then they have the money to buy the game. Any excuse (including “DRM is baad, we are fighting the system when we pirate games”) is just that, an excuse to make themselves feel better about an illegal action.

            I don’t agree with your view on my website promoting/encouraging piracy, however. This is a news article, and if you take the time to read the closing paragraph, you can see that I actually encourage people to either wait for sales or skip buying games if they truly hate their DRM solution. Piracy is never the answer.

    • @Kam

      What do you do for your livelihood? Do you have a family to feed? Or are you still living at home?

      Also why do you think you deserve to game for free? What gives you that entitlement?

      • Who cares what you think? or anyone for that matter, our good mate Kam here is refusing to support a particularly shitty example of DRM. Now you can eff and jeff all you like, every name under the sun, but I know I’ll be joining him and will sleep very soundly at night. Apart from the bastard spring that’s a bit loose near my arse, really need to slip that mattress.

      • Which isn’t bad for a game like this. Did about 500K units on PS4.

        I am just saying this article is nonsense and just serves as confirmation bias for people who like to steal (or pirate, but I apply the classical definition to theft which is taking something that doesn’t belong to you).

        If a piracy protection scheme works for a month or two, it has done its job. Games obviously sell the best during their launch period.

        I just don’t get people that applaud that companies that lose protection for their intellectual property. The concept that gamers are so entitled to a game they are allowed to steal it is just foreign to me.

        • I think that you misunderstood the article then. I am not applauding crackers for breaking DRM solutions, I am just relaying the news. As you can read in the article, I actually said that people who want to play this game should just wait for a sale if they can’t afford it right now, since Square Enix is known for discounting their non-Final Fantasy games just a few months after release.
          If you read my comments, you can also see that I agree with your point of view…

          • Yeah I just put 2 and 2 together on who you are lol. 🙂

            I think you are speaking out of both sides of your mouth though. Sure you do say you encourage people to buy the game but the first paragraph you are telling all the freeloaders the game is available for free now.

            Its a mixed message at best.

          • I’ve edited the title of the article and added a disclaimer to clarify my position on software piracy. Thanks for your emails and your honest feedback, and sorry if I seemed a bit antagonistic previously.
            Hopefully the message comes across more clearly now.

  2. Pingback: Denuvo Pëson Një Tjetër Disfatë – Thyhet Edhe Versioni I Ri – GW Computers Blog

  3. The last time i pirated games was at the Time of Starforce, Securom, Safedisc and other malware. Since Steam came i didn’t pirate anything and purchased 1k Games.

    But with the arrival of Denuvo Anti Consumer and especially because they don’t even remove it for consumers if already cracked since months and convenient repacks are released with all pre-order content and all DLCs, i would be a fool to pay money for Denuvo Anti Consumer infected games.

    But i’m fair and do only pirate Denuvo Anti Consumer infected games and purchase the ones without Denuvo Anti Consumer, it’s now my way to punish them.

    If they want me to purchase they either need to not infect it with Denuvo Anti Consumer or remove it fast enough as soon it has been cracked so that i don’t have the time to download a repack, because once i got an convenient repack i won’t pay a cent anymore even if Denuvo Anti Consumer was removed later.

    So yeah Denuvo Anti Consumer doesn’t pay!

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