It’s simple: don’t pirate the game.
The enemy only appears on pirated versions of the game, so rather than trying to block downloads and add all kinds of software to try to get around the crackers, Croteam throw in an invincible bad guy.
A wickedly brilliant bit of DRM, there.
Via DSOGaming.
FalconRedux
I love stuff like this. Batman AA had a similar trick where Batman would repeatedly fall to his death. I don’t understand how this is different from conventional anti-piracy at a technical level, though. It only works if the code thinks it’s not legit and hackers can get round it just like conventional barriers.
halbpro
That’s certainly true, but it’s a way of implementing a form of DRM without punishing a legit player.
FalconRedux
An excellent point, this is a very good thing. Plus highly amusing :-)
Rad4Life
Absolutely. Wish more studios would take this route and leave play passes alone.
colossalblue
yeah, the PC version of Arkham Asylum removed Batman’s cape if you pirated it. So no glide. Brilliant and much more constructive than things like Ubisoft’s egregious online DRM nonsense.
teflon
It’s easier to hide it from the people that crack the game and pirate it.
Then, tens of thousands of people pirate it and get to this stage and get stuck.
It’s bound to get worked around in time, but is better disguised from that first wave.
KeRaSh
Pretty funny but I’m sure they will find a way around it if they haven’t already. The hoops people will jump through to play a pirated game. It’s ridiculous.
Klart
It’s a game in the game!
KeRaSh
Gameception?
XisTG
lovely idea ahahahah
MayContainEvil
Somewhat similar to what toe Dark Souls dev team did to the people playing it before it’s release date, love the whole concept; it’s just so much cooler and more creative than DRM.
bacon_nuts
Yeah, that one was amazing. So cruel, yet so funny (and deserved)
kjkg
Thank you for this. I clicked on the original video on youtube for it and it lead me to this http://tinyurl.com/ccrkn8a
Has made my day!
Deathbrin
The pirates get all the good stuff now -.- They basically got their own DLC!
DJ Judas
I love this way of dealing with piracy…… Amazing game btw!
IAmJacksMedullaOblongata
Stupid question time: wouldn’t pirates just then pirate a version of the game without this feature? I guess what I’m trying to say is how can they make a version of the game that they know will be “the pirated version”.
DJ Judas
I think they can as it’s in the single player, eventually they’ll remove it somehow.
ArmA 2 takes a similar approach, except they allow pirates to play online; they simply make their weapons weaker than legit players, in the same way that a pirated game is refused access to servers by validation.
They’re allowed in, just severely handicapped.