You can pirate most PC games. Once a game is released, if it doesn’t contain DRM (Digital Rights Management) software the game files and launcher can be easily copied and the game can be played on any PC, sometimes without much tinkering, so you can be sure that you can pirate those games on release.
It’s a bit harder when games contain DRM software, it can take a while for someone to crack the game, and sometimes they don’t get cracked at all. Denuvo, for example, is a DRM solution that’s notorious for being very difficult to crack; in fact, some versions haven’t been cracked at all. Fortunately, because Denuvo is a subscription-based service and is known to noticeably impact game performance, some publishers choose to remove it a few months after release.
For uncracked Denuvo games, the cheapest way to play them is an offline steam account, check the alternatives section below.
The following guides are in-depth and a lot better than whatever I could do; you should definitely check them out first:
You might need a VPN, especially if you’re torrenting, and you need an ad-blocker.
You will find links for game piracy sites in the guides above just make sure to avoid the untrusted ones. Look through multiple sites and try to find the most recent version of the game so you don’t have to bother with updating it after installation.
Some sites provide game repacks. A game repack is a compressed version of a game that has been repackaged to reduce its file size for easier downloading. The only downside is that repacks can take longer to install, whereas other sites provide pre-installed games that usually just require a simple unpacking.
When downloading, you might get the option to download the file directly with a direct download link (DDL), or torrent it using a magnet link or a .torrent file, or both. I would generally recommend torrenting because it’s very convenient.
Torrents let you download files by connecting to many other users who have the file. Instead of downloading from one server, you download small pieces from multiple peers at once. The more people sharing (seeding) the file, the faster and more reliable the download.
For torrents you will need a torrent client like qbittorrent or Deluge, either download the .torrent file and open it using the client or click or copy the magnet link to add it the client, once the download is finished it will be seeding by default, meaning other people downloading the torrent will download parts of it off of your computer.
With direct downloads (DDLs), the files are hosted on a remote server, usually using a file hosting website, the problem with DDLs is that most file hosters are awful, they will try and get you to pay (never do that, BTW)to bypass restrictions like limited download speeds or one download per IP. If your download fails, some hosters won’t even let you retry without waiting or starting over entirely. Limited file sizes also mean the download is often split into multiple parts, which means more clicking and more hassle.
However, there are still benefits to DDLs, mainly:
It’s just like any regular download, so it’s a lot safer than torrenting, which can sometimes lead to legal consequences.
It can be faster and more reliable than torrenting in some cases. Popular torrents may be slow due to the large number of peers downloading, while unpopular ones suffer from a low number of seeders. You might also be unable to download if people stop seeding or if the available seeders aren’t connected.
For DDLs, it’s highly recommended to use a download manager. It helps manage multiple downloads, resume failed downloads, and can sometimes make your downloads slightly faster. I recommend IDM, FDM, or JDownloader2. You can check here for more info.
For pre-installed games, all you have to do is extract the .zip or .rar file, and you’ll find the game launcher inside. If there are multiple parts, just extract the first part and it will automatically combine and extract the entire game.
For other games, like repacked games, there will usually be a setup.exe that installs the game for you like any other program.
Some pirated games will have their own launcher and server list, so you will be playing with other pirates, and usually without anticheat it which isn’t very optimal but its better than nothing.
The other way to play online is using the Steamworks API exploit, which takes advantage of Spacewar—a placeholder game provided by Valve to test Steam’s online features—to trick Steam into launching a pirated game and sometimes even access its official servers.
Doing this yourself or finding the necessary files isn’t very simple, so I would recommend online-fix.me. It’s a website that provides the files and instructions to play pirated games online, and it also serves pirated games.
It does have a couple of issues. You need an account on the website to access the download links, and the site is in Russian, so you may need to translate its pages.
for more tools and info check FMHY.
If you really don’t want to pirate games but still cant/don’t want to buy games at full price, it’s not hopeless for you just yet, there are other things you can do:
No one is forcing you to play video games, you can always pick up a different hobby that doesn’t cost as much time or money.
Unless its an online game that your friends really want you to get so you can play together, you don’t have to buy it now, just add it to your wishlist and wait for a sale avoid the FOMO the game isn’t going anywhere.
If you set up Steam Family Sharing, you can share your library across Steam accounts. Some games don’t support it, but you can check by looking for the Family Sharing tag on the game’s Steam store page.
An offline Steam account is one that cannot access Steam’s online features because it is set to offline mode. This allows the account to be shared across multiple devices, and some people sell these accounts.
You can find offline accounts sold at varying prices, usually around $1 - $5 USD. Once you buy one, you will receive instructions to log in, download the game, and set the account to offline mode. After that, you can play the game freely, but without any online features.
I can’t recommend sites that sell these accounts because they are sketchy by nature.