piracy

TrendTechie
May 23, 2025
PlayStation Productions released a horror film adaptation of the PlayStation 4 exclusive game Until Dawn, which follows a character named Clover and her friends as they explore an abandoned facility linked to her sister's disappearance, becoming trapped in a time loop with a masked killer. The film received mixed reviews, scoring 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6 out of 10 on IMDb, but performed well at the box office, earning .7 million within its first month against an unspecified production budget. The film's release was also marked by its immediate availability on torrent sites, raising concerns about piracy.
AppWizard
May 20, 2025
The Chinese game industry has experienced significant growth, with popular titles like Genshin Impact and Black Myth: Wukong driving global interest. Black Myth: Wukong sold 10 million copies within a week of its August 2024 launch and won Game of the Year at the 2024 Steam Awards. The single-player game market in China is becoming more sustainable, with a shift in focus due to the success of titles like Black Myth: Wukong. Developers are adapting their strategies, although challenges such as high production costs, competition, and issues related to work culture persist. Local governments are actively supporting game development through licensing, tax breaks, and grants, with initiatives aimed at integrating cultural themes into games. Despite layoffs in the industry, a robust social safety net exists to support affected employees.
TrendTechie
May 17, 2025
DOOM: The Dark Ages, a prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal, is set to release on May 15. In Russia, the game will not be available for official purchase, with prices ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 rubles, leading some to consider waiting for pirated versions. The game uses Denuvo DRM, complicating hacking efforts. Historical data shows that hacking timelines for Denuvo-protected games vary, making it difficult to predict when DOOM: The Dark Ages will appear on torrent sites. Factors influencing hacking speed include the game's popularity, the complexity of Denuvo, technical features of the game, hacker activity, and potential updates. Three scenarios for when the game might be hacked are: optimistic (7–14 days post-release), realistic (1-3 months), and pessimistic (6–12 months). The realistic scenario is deemed most likely due to the game's popularity.
TrendTechie
May 16, 2025
Spotify is preparing for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, with connections to Ludvig Strigeus, the developer of uTorrent, who was instrumental in Spotify's early development. Spotify once owned uTorrent, which it acquired in 2006 before selling it to BitTorrent Inc. shortly after. Strigeus's stake in Spotify is reportedly valued at over a billion Kroner, making him a multi-millionaire. Spotify launched its beta version in 2008 as an alternative to music piracy and has since become a billion-dollar enterprise, converting millions of users into paying customers. Initially, Spotify's service included a significant file-sharing aspect, utilizing P2P connections for streaming and incorporating pirate MP3s in its beta release. The acquisition of uTorrent provided crucial funding for Spotify's development.
AppWizard
April 25, 2025
Tim Cain, the creator of the original Fallout, shared insights on his YouTube channel about his career and the game's origins, including the purposes of the Vaults and the game's setting in 2161. He recounted a past incident with publisher Interplay, where he was compelled to destroy a collection of early Fallout materials, including design notes and game builds, to avoid legal conflict. Cain highlighted the industry's failure in game preservation, noting that when he left Fallout, he was instructed to destroy his entire archive. A study indicated that about 87% of all games created are now unplayable without piracy or archival visits, underscoring the challenges in preserving both games and development materials.
TrendTechie
April 25, 2025
Bend Studio has released a remastered version of its original zombie action game, Days Gone, without any anti-piracy measures. This remastered version is available in a Portable format on the "green steam" platform, packaged as unpacked folders and occupying approximately 62 GB of space. The original game debuted on PlayStation in 2019. The remaster includes graphical enhancements and new features such as Horde Mode, an Arcade mode with a single life or speed challenges, game speed settings, and new graphical modes for the PS5, including an "Enhanced" mode with PSSR support for PS5 Pro.
Winsage
April 23, 2025
Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer discussed the company's shift from paid upgrades to a Windows as a Service model, highlighting the challenges faced after the success of Windows 7 and the disappointing reception of Windows 8. He noted that Microsoft made Windows 10 available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, which allowed the company to gather valuable telemetry data while introducing users to subscription services. However, the telemetry raised privacy concerns among users, as it included advertising and upsell mechanisms. Plummer expressed a desire for a version of Windows Pro without telemetry and advertising, indicating he would pay for such a product. He also mentioned that the transition to a service model helped address piracy by offering free upgrades to users with non-genuine copies of Windows.
TrendTechie
April 16, 2025
Intermittent disruptions on the Rutracker torrent tracker have been reported since April 13, affecting access for users from various countries. The administration attributes the issues to a malfunction with a cloud service provider and expects normal functionality to resume soon. No torrent data has been lost, and the challenges are related to access. Rutracker, which has been banned in Russia since 2015, recorded over 30 million visits in February 2025 and has approximately 2.5 million active torrents. It is the largest Russian-language torrent tracker, operational since 2004, and originally known as Torrents.ru until 2010. The platform also attracts English-speaking visitors seeking rare torrents.
Search