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[Draugoth]

Let me repeat that. Rockstar was selling on Steam a cracked copy of its game.

Discovered by modder ‘Silent’, the Steam version of Midnight Club 2 is actually the version that the scene group “Razor 1911” cracked back in 2003.



As you can clearly see from the HEX Editor that Silent has used, the Steam version of Midnight Club 2 features Razor 1911’s signature. So, instead of releasing the original version of Midnight Club 2, Rockstar went ahead and downloaded a cracked version in order to sell it. And that’s hilarious.

Ironically, this isn’t the first time Rockstar was caught selling cracked games on Steam. Rockstar had previously done the exact same thing with Manhunt and Max Payne 2.

 

[Spyxos]

Doesn't that happen a lot? I think Nintedo did the same thing with Mario Galaxy games on switch.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[StueyDuck]

It's their game... why can't they

 

[feynoob]

It's why they are called Rockstar. They rock your world with crack.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Razor1911 lmao

Crack scene was so funny back then. Fuckin chiptunes while you install it. The readmes always talking shit about other cracking groups.

 

[Stuart360]

But why though?. Plus i'm sure this has come up before with older games.

 

[killatopak]

Well the people who say its game preservation definitely made their point with this.

 

[RoadHazard]

Doesn't that happen a lot? I think Nintedo did the same thing with Mario Galaxy games on switch.

I don't believe that's accurate, but I think maybe they used emulator code that wasn't really theirs or something?

 

[Deft Beck]

This is unfortunate, but cheaper than hiring somebody to do a proper modern version.

 

[Erkuza]

What are the people who cracked the game going to do?

Sue Rockstar for selling your illegally cracked version of their game? That's checkmate right there.

 

[DaGwaphics]

What are the people who cracked the game going to do?

Sue Rockstar for selling your illegally cracked version of their game? That's checkmate right there.

They might be happy about it, the back-doors they included might still be in there as well.

 

[Gudji]

 

[adamsapple]

Should have outsourced it to Grove Street Games.

 

[supernova8]

Cracking story, really cracked me up.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

They might be happy about it, the back-doors they included might still be in there as well.

Did they include backdoors?

 

[Tunned]

Wait, I just checked Steam and found no Midnight Club game listed, wtf?

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Doesn't that happen a lot? I think Nintedo did the same thing with Mario Galaxy games on switch.

I forget which it was but I recall it was Super Mario 64. The executable was a fan-based ROM rip that they repackaged, IIRC.

 

[Dane]

I remember Ubisoft had made a patch for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 that also replaced the .exe with a had a Razor one.

 

[ShadowNate]

Oh this happens a lot.
I mean it's still good to raise a stink and maybe drive Rockstar or whoever publisher to upload an original version of the game, fixed by their own developers, if needed to remove DRM and such.

But, from experience publishers won't give a shit even after it's pointed out to them.

 

[azertydu91]

Shit , i hesitate to change their name to croockstar or crackstar.

 

[graywolf323]

Wait, I just checked Steam and found no Midnight Club game listed, wtf?

it was removed a while ago IIRC, thankfully I actually own it on Steam (unlike the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games which I’m still kicking myself for having not picked up before they were delisted >_<)

https://steamdb.info/app/12160/

 

[DaGwaphics]

Did they include backdoors?

I have no idea about this group. But some of these hacking groups were accused of doing things like that. Though sometimes it would be someone nefarious repackaging the work of a group and distributing it via the file shares. Or at least that would be the defense brought forward when it would happen.

 

[Spyxos]

I don't believe that's accurate, but I think maybe they used emulator code that wasn't really theirs or something?

I don't see the difference? Both belong to the companies but were not developed by them.

 

[Puscifer]

Razor1911 lmao

Crack scene was so funny back then. Fuckin chiptunes while you install it. The readmes always talking shit about other cracking groups.

aXXo rips beware of bogus sites and lamers

IDGAF, that dude was a master of compression for the quality you got back then

 

[Puscifer]

Also this is ages old, Max Payne was known to be cracked over 10 years ago where have you all been.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Non issue really, happens a lot

 

[keraj37]

Wasn't Razor1911 active back in 1911 when video games were nonexistent?

 

[makaveli60]

More like hypocrite stars who even sue modders?

 

[Skifi28]

It's their game... why can't they

They can and they did, but the irony is not lost on most of us.

 

[StueyDuck]

They can and they did, but the irony is not lost on most of us.

It's hardly new either...

 

[8BiTw0LF]

 

[HL3.exe]

"..again"

The same thing happened with Max Payne 2 and Manhunt.

Great job Rockstar.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Haha. That doesn’t even make sense.

Are the pirated versions perhaps better in some aspects like they also modded in patches or QoL fixes or anything so rockstar just said fuck it and they’ll resell a better version of their own game?

If not and it’s the same exact game, how can it that hard to just upload on steam the original code?

Lol. Lazy asses.

 

[deriks]

Doesn't that happen a lot? I think Nintedo did the same thing with Mario Galaxy games on switch.

A lot of past games are emulated and the ROM is download from whatever easy site

It's kinda weird because they could work with the original source, but chances are that this is way quicker. Also, most of the time is some kind of emulation, not ports, so doesn't matter if works right

 

[Kakax11]

Well from the Nintendo book of "It's alright actually"

Did Nintendo download a Mario ROM and sell it back to us?

Nintendo's stance on emulation has always been a rigid one. As far as the company is concerned, if you're downloading a…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Fahdis]

Lol, is it still on Steam?

 

[nikos]

Turns out piracy = preservation?

 

[64bitmodels]

Pirates do a better job of preserving games than multi billion dollar companies do, yeah what else is new.

 

[Bry0]

Haha. That doesn’t even make sense.

Are the pirated versions perhaps better in some aspects like they also modded in patches or QoL fixes or anything so rockstar just said fuck it and they’ll resell a better version of their own game?

If not and it’s the same exact game, how can it that hard to just upload on steam the original code?

Lol. Lazy asses.

Don’t forget these games came out in the days of securom and cd checks. My guess is rockstar just packed a nocd cracked exe into the steam game instead of bothering to remove the CD verification themselves.

 

[NoLootBoxDev]

It's their game... why can't they

 

[polybius80]

It's their game... why can't they

is not just their game now, they are including other people's work

did R* asked the crack team permission to use their work commercially? I dont know if they did but you just cannot take whatever people made and use it commercially, you have to pay for a license, some licenses require you to include the author in the credits of your game, some game cracks explicitly prohibit their sale


for example you can develop a game but if you dare to use a sprite let say a pokemon sprite nintendo will come after you because its their property

some dev dont care and some people dont care but you cannot take it for granted unless its public domain, CC0 or MIT license no matter if the rest of the game its yours

 

[SmokedMeat]

Rockstar’s gone down the shitter for me. Sailing the high seas is all a company like that deserves.

 

[peronmls]

So glad I got this game on steam before it got removed. Loved the music and the menu UI. It was an extremely good port as far as I'm aware.

 

[IAmRei]

Razor1911 lmao

Crack scene was so funny back then. Fuckin chiptunes while you install it. The readmes always talking shit about other cracking groups.

I recall i got annoyed with why they used crappy chiptunes and the music sounds bad. But in the end, i love the music, very nostalgic these days.

 

[lmimmfn]

RAZOR should sue for intellectual property violation and unauthorised distribution of same.

Publishers are getting out of hand suing pirate groups, emulator groups and meanwhile reaping the rewards of others works.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

RAZOR should sue for intellectual property violation and unauthorised distribution of same.

Publishers are getting out of hand suing pirate groups, emulator groups and meanwhile reaping the rewards of others works.

That's not how it works.

 

[TGO]

Did they download it legally though

 

[bender]

Rollercoaster of emotions:

-Wait, Midnight Club 2 is back on Steam?
-Searches, "no results found", sadness.
-Searches Library, "Midnight Club 2", glee.
-I'm too old for this shit.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Path of least resistance for these companies.