国外学习组以及D加密的故事

SKIDROW 是一个著名的学习小组，最初于 1990 年在 Amiga 平台上成立，其座右铭是“Twice the Fun – Double the Trouble！” 自那时候起。现代的 SKIDROW 可以追溯到 2007 年 6 月，当时他们宣布回归 PC 平台。他们是第一个学习始终在线的 Ubisoft DRM 的场景组，他们在刺客信条 II 和波斯王子：被遗忘的沙漠中做到了这一点。该组织声称在《昨天的起源》和《杀出重围：人类分裂 - 犯罪的过去》中都学习了 Denuvo 反篡改，尽管人们认为前者对 Denuvo 的实施不当，使其更容易逆转，而后者的学习是受保护较少的 Deus Ex: Breach 的修改后的可执行文件。SKIDROW 当前发布的多个版本是使用 Steam 身份验证的学习版游戏。

CODEX（也称为 CDX）– 是一个成立于 2014 年 1 月末的warez 组织。他们以发布使用 Steam 许可的游戏副本以及模拟 Ubisoft 的 Uplay DRM 保护而闻名。他们被 warez 组织 SKIDROW 指控窃取他们的代码来学习 Trials Fusion，CODEX 否认了这一点，并声称他们为 DRM 仿真编写了自己的代码。从 2016 年到 2018 年，他们一直是发布商业电脑游戏的最活跃的warez 团体之一。2017 年底，CODEX 在发布之日发布了学习版的《中土世界：战争之影》，成为学习 Denuvo DRM 的第三个场景组（也是第五个整体实体）而声名狼藉。CODEX 与 STEAMPUNKS 合作开发了至少一款使用 Denuvo DRM 的游戏，South Park: The Fractured But Whole，他们以“CODEPUNKS”的名义发布。2018 年 2 月，CODEX 开始从 Microsoft Windows 商店发布学习版游戏。2018 年 6 月，CODEX 发布了 Forza Horizo​​n 3 的学习版，其中包含的学习被发现是一个通用的 Windows Store 许可 API 模拟器，适用于大多数使用 Windows Store 许可 DRM 的游戏。2018 年年中，CODEX 开始发布包含最新版本 Denuvo DRM 的游戏学习副本，包括刺客信条起源和孤岛惊魂 5 的更新版本，两者均使用 Uplay 授权 DRM，并包含额外的反修改和反调试代码使用 VMProtect。2018 年 6 月，CODEX 发布了 Forza Horizo​​n 3 的学习版，其中包含的学习被发现是一个通用的 Windows Store 许可 API 模拟器，适用于大多数使用 Windows Store 许可 DRM 的游戏。2018 年年中，CODEX 开始发布包含最新版本 Denuvo DRM 的游戏学习副本，包括刺客信条起源和孤岛惊魂 5 的更新版本，两者均使用 Uplay 授权 DRM，并包含额外的反修改和反调试代码使用 VMProtect。2018 年 6 月，CODEX 发布了 Forza Horizo​​n 3 的学习版，其中包含的学习被发现是一个通用的 Windows Store 许可 API 模拟器，适用于大多数使用 Windows Store 许可 DRM 的游戏。2018 年年中，CODEX 开始发布包含最新版本 Denuvo DRM 的游戏学习副本，包括刺客信条起源和孤岛惊魂 5 的更新版本，两者均使用 Uplay 授权 DRM，并包含额外的反修改和反调试代码使用 VMProtect。

2019 年 2 月 1 日，CODEX 在游戏全球商业发布 7 天后发布了使用 Denuvo DRM 的学习版《生化危机 2》。6 月 27 日，CODEX 在发布 527 天后发布了《星球大战前线 2》的学习。10 月 29 日，他们发布了《无主之地 3》的学习，这是另一个在发布 46 天后受 Denuvo 保护的游戏，目前，它是最后几款具有不同保护的游戏中最稳定、最活跃的一组。

COSPIR4CY（主要发布为 CPY）是一个 1999 年在意大利成立的warez 集团。他们在 2016 年 8 月以 COSPIR4CY 的名义发布了《古墓丽影：崛起》和 Inside 之后声名鹊起，尽管他们在 2016 年 9 月发布的《毁灭战士》中继续使用“CPY”标签。他们成为第一个为受最新 Denuvo DRM 软件保护的游戏。他们在《生化危机 7：生化危机》发布后仅五天就学习了，当时是开发受 Denuvo DRM 保护的游戏学习所需的最短时间。他们还学习了质量效应：仙女座，仅在发布十天后。2017 年 7 月，warez 组织 SKIDROW 批评了 COSPIR4CY 使用 Denuvo DRM 学习游戏的方法。

2018 年初，CPY 发布了刺客信条起源和孤岛惊魂 5 的学习副本，它们是使用最新版本的 Denuvo DRM 编译的，并通过使用 VMProtect 软件和 EasyAntiCheat 具有额外的反修改和反调试功能。2018 年 11 月，CPY 发布了 HITMAN 2、Assassin's Creed Odyssey、A Way Out、Shadow of the Tomb Raider、Pro Evolution Soccer 2019、FIFA 19 的学习——所有这些都采用了最新版本的 Denuvo DRM，其中一些使用了额外的自定义 DRM 或现成的 DRM，例如 EACore 和 VMProtect。2018 年 12 月，CPY 在发布后的第二天发布了使用最新版本 Denuvo DRM 的 Just Cause 4 学习版。他们还在正式发布几天后的 12 月 22 日发布了《战地风云 5》的学习。2019 年 1 月，

2019 年 2 月，CPY 在发布后 5 天内发布了使用最新版本的 Denuvo DRM 的 Metro Exodus，以及名为“规则”的奇异人生 2 第二集。2019 年 9 月，CPY 在发布 93 天后发布了游戏八方旅人的学习版。2019 年 11 月，CPY 发布了一个学习版《暴雨》，其中包含最新版本的 Denuvo DRM。经过长时间的中断，CPY 于 2020 年 10 月再次活跃起来，在一天之内发布了 Pro Evolution Soccer、Mafia: Definitive Edition 和 Death Stranding 的学习副本，所有这些都包含最新版本的 Denuvo DRM。

Reloaded（风格化为 RELOADED 和 RLD）是一个由 DEViANCE 的前成员于 2004 年 6 月成立的warez 团体。他们在发布日期前 4 天发布并学习了《孢子》，并在发布日期前 15 天发布了《模拟人生 3》的测试版。2008 年 2 月 29 日，Reloaded 发布了刺客信条的学习版，比 3 月 28 日发布的时间早了一个月。然而，这个版本后来因为不是最终的零售版本以及存在崩溃问题而遭到抨击。一个多月后，他们发布了零售版。

2006 年 5 月 26 日，Reloaded 发布了受 StarForce 保护的游戏汤姆克兰西的细胞分裂：混沌理论。此学习版在正式发布日期后 424 天可用。

2010 年 2 月 27 日，Reloaded 在发布日期前三天发布了《战地：坏连队 2》，但玩家报告游戏控制存在问题。

许多由 Reloaded 制作的密钥生成器会生成以 XRLD 结尾的密钥，其中 X 代表数字/字母。

当 Macrovision 变成 Rovi Corporation 并停止开发 SafeDisc 和 SafeCast DRM 时，Reloaded 决定向公众发布一个旧的内部工具。它可用于绕过检查，如 CD/DVD 验证、试用、在线激活（针对 beta 游戏）、执行计数和静默 CD/DVD 检查。

在新补丁学习了合法下载的游戏版本后，育碧使用了来自 Reloaded 的学习 exe 用于 PC 游戏汤姆克兰西的彩虹六号：维加斯 2。

2012年3月5日，Reloaded在正式发布的前一天发布了《质量效应3》的学习版。2 月 14 日已经有一个不完整的未学习版。2013 年 10 月 29 日，RELOADED 在发布当天发布了《战地风云 4》学习版。2014 年 5 月 26 日，RELOADED 在 5 月 27 日正式发布的前一天发布了 Ubisoft 备受期待的开放世界黑客游戏 Watch Dogs 的学习版。该团队在发布日期前 4 天发布了学习版的孤岛惊魂那是在 2014 年 11 月 18 日，因为他们在 11 月 11 日由于德国 Amazon.com 的泄密而获得了这款游戏。

Razor 1911 (RZR) 是一个 1985 年在挪威成立的软件和演示组。根据美国司法部的说法，Razor 1911 是仍然活跃在互联网上的最古老的软件学习组。

1985 年 10 月，No 博士、Insane TTM 和 Sector9 在挪威成立了 Razor 2992，前身是 Commodore 64 软件学习组。不久之后，它们从 2992 更改为 1911，转换为十六进制的 777。

在 1987 年到 1988 年间，该团队开始从 Commodore 64 迁移到新的硬件平台，为 Amiga 编写演示代码和学习游戏。在 1990 年代早期，Razor 1911 进行了另一次过渡，这次是向 IBM PC 过渡，主要是作为一个学习组，但仍继续发布学习加载器、演示和音乐。

从 1992 年开始，Razor 一直是软盘供应组，直到软盘被放弃用于 CD-ROM。在整个 1990 年代，Razor 面临着来自许多不同团体的竞争，其中包括 Tristar & Red Sector inc. 等团体。(TRSi)、International Network of Crackers (INC)、The Dream Team (TDT) 和 Fairlight (FLT) 于 1994 年转为 Prestige、Hybrid (HBD) 和其他 1995 年。 Razor 因从另一个团体 Nexus 获得的新成员而重新焕发活力，他们带来了一些英国供应商和领导者 The Speed Racer (TSR)、Hot Tuna 和 The Gecko。Razor 在整个 1990 年代还有其他几家公司，例如 Zodact、The Renegade Chemist (TRC)、The WiTcH KiNG、Butcher、SwiTch、Marauder 和 Randall Flagg。

1995 年，软盘发行版迅速被 CD-ROM 取代，Razor 1911 进入了 CD 翻录领域。带领 Razor 进入新篇章的工作人员包括 TSR、Pharaoh、Fatal Error、GRIZZLY、Suspicious Image、Third Son、Hot Tuna、Beowulf、Pitbull、Bunter、Manhunter、Niteman、Vitas、Mausioso 和 The Punisher。

当 ISO 场景形成时，Razor 再次接受了新的挑战。Razor 1911 在 ISO 成为当时的标准时开始发布，其中最显着的领导者是 The Punisher。他对 Razor 的恢复和它在 ISO 场景中的稳定表现起到了重要作用。在 The Punisher 退休后，Razor 由不同的人领导，并以领导力挑战的形式出现了一些内部问题。当 1990 年代的老 Razor 成员 Pitbull 接任领导角色时，这个问题得到了解决。联邦调查局声称他仍然是 Razor 的领导人，当时尽管 NFO 和现场进行了一项国际反海盗行动“海盗行动”，该行动导致 2001 年在全球范围内袭击了 60 多名海盗嫌疑人的家当时的活动指出叛徒化学家是该组织的实际领导者。

Hoodlum（也称为 HLM）主要专注于学习使用 Safedisc 和 Securom 提供的数字版权管理解决方案的游戏。他们在 2005 年的 Operation Site Down 突袭中成为目标。2018 年 7 月，HOODLUM 再次开始发布 Mac、PC 和 PS4 游戏。

PLAZA 是一个warez 组，主要不专注于学习游戏，而是提供所有DLC 和附加内容的完整包以及主游戏。这还包括附加语言包和DLC 内容，并提供稍后发布的附加更新。

GOG.com（前身为 Good Old Games）是视频游戏和电影的数字发行平台。它由 GOG sp 运营。z oo 是位于波兰华沙的 CD Projekt 的全资子公司。GOG.com 通过其适用于 Microsoft Windows、macOS 和 Linux 的数字平台提供无 DRM 的视频游戏。2012 年 3 月，它开始销售更近期的作品，例如《艾伦·维克》、《刺客信条》和 Metro Redux 系列等。

Denuvo 由位于奥地利萨尔茨堡的软件公司 Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH 开发。该公司是通过对开发 SecuROM DRM 技术的 Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation 的子公司 DigitalWorks 进行管理层收购而成立的。2018 年 1 月，该公司被更大的软件公司爱迪德收购。截至 2018 年 8 月，该公司拥有 1,000 名员工，而最初的 45 人。Denuvo 软件的开发始于 2014 年。2014 年 9 月发布的 FIFA 15 是第一款使用 Denuvo 的游戏。

2014 年 12 月 1 日，中国 warez 组织 3DM 在一篇博文中首次声称入侵了 Denuvo 的技术，其中他们宣布将发布受 Denuvo 保护的游戏 FIFA 15、龙腾世纪：宗教裁判所和堕落之王的学习版. 在此之后，3DM 发布了《龙腾世纪：宗教裁判所》的版本大约在该游戏发售两周后。整个学习进度大约花了一个月的时间，这在游戏学习场景中是异常漫长的。当被问及这一发展时，Denuvo Software Solutions 承认“每个受保护的游戏最终都会被学习”。然而，科技网站 Ars Technica 指出，主要游戏的大部分销售都发生在发布后 30 天内，因此如果这意味着游戏需要更长的时间才能学习，发行商可能会认为 Denuvo 是成功的。2016 年 1 月，3DM 的创始人 Bird Sister 透露，他们将放弃尝试破坏 Just Cause 3 的 Denuvo 实施，并警告说，由于实施的持续趋势，“世界上将没有免费游戏可玩” “ 在不远的将来。随后，3DM 选择在一年内不学习任何游戏，以考察此举是否会对游戏销售产生影响。

到 2017 年 10 月，学习者能够在游戏发布后数小时内绕过 Denuvo 的保护，著名的例子包括南方公园：破碎但完整、中土世界：战争的阴影、全面战争：战锤 2 和 FIFA 18，所有这些都被学习在他们的发布日期。在另一个值得注意的案例中，刺客信条起源将 Denuvo 包装在安全工具 VMProtect 以及 Ubisoft 用于其 Uplay 分发软件的专有 DRM 中，其安全功能在游戏发布三个月后的 2018 年 2 月被意大利集体 CPY 绕过。2018 年 12 月，《杀手 2》的保护在其正式发布日期前三天因独家预购访问而被绕过，这与《最终幻想 XV》进行了比较，后者在发布前四天就取消了保护。

到 2019 年，Devil May Cry 5、Metro Exodus、生化危机 2、Far Cry New Dawn、Football Manager 2019 和 Soul Calibur 6 等几款产品在发布的第一周内就被学习，而 Ace Combat 7 则需要 13 天。以在 Steam 上发布的《狂怒 2》以及 Bethesda Softworks 自己的 Bethesda Launcher 为例，Steam 版本受 Denuvo 保护，而 Bethesda Launcher 版本没有，导致游戏立即被学习，Denuvo 被两天后从 Steam 版本中删除。

姐妹产品 Denuvo Anti-Cheat 于 2019 年 3 月发布。

FairLight (FLT) 是一个软件和演示组，最初参与 Commodore 演示，并从 1987 年开始学习非法免费发布游戏。除了 C64，FairLight 还迁移到 Amiga、Super NES 和后来的 PC . FairLight 由 Strider 和 Black Shadow 于 1987 年复活节假期期间创立，他们都是 West Coast Crackers (WCC) 的前成员。这个“西海岸”就是瑞典的西海岸，所以FairLight最初是一个瑞典集团，后来国际化了。这个名字取自 Strider 看到 Jean Michel Jarre 在他的一些唱片中使用的 Fairlight CMI 合成器。

该组织的几名高级成员于 2004 年 4 月 21 日被捕，即该组织从 2003 年 6 月 9 日开始并于 8 月 30 日结束的临时“退休”返回 8 个月后，在联邦调查局的一项名为“快速链接行动”的行动中被捕。

来自11个国家的警察参与其中，逮捕了约120人，缴获了200多台电脑（包括30台服务器）。来自美国突袭的一台服务器包含 65,000 个盗版标题，据称这些标题位于该组织的档案库中。

该行动由联邦调查局、英国国家高科技犯罪部门、德国联邦刑事法庭 (BKA) 和商业软件联盟协调，在美国 27 个州进行。在英国，在贝尔法斯特、曼彻斯特和谢菲尔德，七台电脑被查获，三人被捕。在新加坡，三人（22、30 和 34 岁）被捕。在荷兰，警察调查了两所大学学生拥有的两台服务器。在比利时、丹麦、法国、德国、匈牙利、以色列和瑞典，共有 11 个国家进行了其他逮捕和扣押。

据传闻，这次突袭发生在warez集团发布游戏《杀手：契约》之前。几天后，该游戏由其他团体（iNSOMNiA，用于 Xbox 和 PS2，以及 Razor 1911，用于 PC）发布。

在 Fastlink 行动突袭后不久，理事会成员 [Bacchus] 写道：

今天的保护是*很少*可以渗透的，那些这样做的人应该值得尊重。快速下载它们只是快速组合访问站点的问题。技能保留，而访问权限可以立即撤销！

在 Fastlink 之前，最后一次大规模的与warez 相关的突袭是 2001 年 12 月针对 DrinkOrDie（以及其他）的海盗行动。

自 2006 年 10 月以来，FairLight 的 ISO 部门再次开始发布。

最近加入现场，EMPRESS（也称为 EMP）是一个点对点的学习者。她最近的成功是与戈德堡先生合作学习了 Rockstar 的 Red Dead Redemption 2。她最近设法单独击败了最新的 DENUVO V10 防篡改系统。她最近发布的一些作品以 Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time、Assassin's Creed: Vallhala & Forza Horizo​​n 4 为特色。据推测，她正在制作 Watch Dogs: Legion Crack。她的身份被推测为女人，也知道她深谙哲学。

SKIDROW is a well-known cracking group originally formed in 1990 on the Amiga platform, having used the motto “Twice the Fun – Double the Trouble!” since then. The modern SKIDROW dates back to June 2007, when they announced their return to the PC platform. They were the first Scene group to crack the always-online Ubisoft DRM, having done it in Assassin’s Creed II and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. The group claims to have cracked Denuvo Anti-Tamper both in Yesterday Origins and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – A Criminal Past, though it’s believed the former had a bad implementation of Denuvo that made it easier to reverse, and that the crack for the latter is a modified executable file of the lesser protected Deus Ex: Breach. A plurality of SKIDROW’s current releases are cracked versions of games that make use of Steam authentication.

CODEX (also known as CDX) – is a warez group founded at the end of January 2014. They are known for releasing copies of games which use Steam licensing and also for emulating Ubisoft’s Uplay DRM protection. They were accused by the warez group SKIDROW of stealing their code to crack Trials Fusion, something CODEX denied, stating that they had written their own code for the DRM emulation. From 2016 to 2018 they have been one of the most active warez groups releasing commercial computer games. In late 2017 CODEX gained notoriety by becoming the third scene group (and fifth overall entity) to crack Denuvo DRM when they released a cracked version of Middle-earth: Shadow of War on its release date. CODEX collaborated with STEAMPUNKS on at least one game which used Denuvo DRM, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, which they released under the name “CODEPUNKS”. In February 2018 CODEX began releasing cracked copies of games from the Microsoft Windows Store. In June 2018 CODEX released a cracked version of Forza Horizon 3 and the crack included with it was discovered to be a generic Windows Store licensing API emulator for most games using Windows Store licensing DRM. In mid-2018 CODEX began releasing cracked copies of games featuring the latest versions of Denuvo DRM, including updated versions of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Far Cry 5, both of which used Uplay licensing DRM and contained additional anti-modification and anti-debugging code through the use of VMProtect.

On February 1, 2019, CODEX published a cracked copy of Resident Evil 2, which used Denuvo DRM, 7 days after the worldwide commercial release of the game. On June 27, CODEX released a crack for Star Wars Battlefront 2 after 527 days of its release. On October 29, they released a crack for Borderlands 3, another Denuvo protected title 46 days after release, Currently, it is the most constant and active group of the last games with different protections.

CONSPIR4CY (releasing mostly as CPY) is a warez group founded in 1999 in Italy. They rose in notoriety after releasing Rise of the Tomb Raider and Inside in August 2016 under the name of CONSPIR4CY, though they continued using the ‘CPY’ tag with the release of Doom in September 2016. They became the first group to create proper cracks for games protected by the latest Denuvo DRM software. They cracked Resident Evil 7: Biohazard only five days after its release, at the time the shortest amount of time taken to develop a crack for a Denuvo DRM-protected game. They also cracked Mass Effect: Andromeda, only ten days after its release. In July 2017, the warez group SKIDROW criticized the methods used by CONSPIR4CY to crack games using Denuvo DRM.

In early 2018, CPY released cracked copies of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Far Cry 5, which were compiled with the most recent version of Denuvo DRM, and had additional anti-modification and anti-debugging features through the use of VMProtect software and EasyAntiCheat. In November 2018 CPY released cracks for HITMAN 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, A Way Out, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, FIFA 19 – all of which featured the latest version of Denuvo DRM, with some using additional custom DRM or off the shelf DRM such as EACore and VMProtect. In December 2018, CPY published a cracked copy of Just Cause 4, which used the latest version of Denuvo DRM, on the day after its release. They also released a crack for Battlefield V on December 22, days after its official release. In January 2019, CPY released cracked copies of Ace Combat 7, Mutant Year Zero, and Strange Brigade, as well as the first episode of Life Is Strange 2 (titled “Roads”) – all 4 titles using the latest versions of Denuvo DRM.

In February 2019, CPY released Metro Exodus, which used the latest version of Denuvo DRM available, within 5 days of its release, as well as the second episode of Life Is Strange 2, titled “Rules”. In September 2019, CPY published a cracked copy of the game Octopath Traveler, 93 days after its release. In November 2019, CPY released a cracked copy of Heavy Rain which featured the latest version of Denuvo DRM. After a long hiatus, CPY became active again in October 2020, releasing cracked copies of Pro Evolution Soccer, Mafia: Definitive Edition, and Death Stranding in a single day, all of which featured the latest version of Denuvo DRM.

Reloaded (stylized as RELOADED and RLD) is a warez group founded in June 2004 from the ex-members of DEViANCE. They released and cracked Spore 4 days before its release date and a beta version of The Sims 3 15 days before its release date. On February 29, 2008, Reloaded released a cracked version of Assassin’s Creed, a month before its release on March 28. However, this release was later nuked for not being the final retail version as well as having crashing issues. The retail version was released by them more than a month later.

On May 26, 2006, Reloaded released the StarForce protected game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. This cracked release became available 424 days after its official release date.

On February 27, 2010, Reloaded released Battlefield: Bad Company 2 three days before release date, but players reported problems with the game controls.

Many keygens made by Reloaded generate keys ending in XRLD, where the X stands for a number/letter.

Reloaded decided to release an old internal tool to the public when the Macrovision turned into Rovi Corporation and discontinued the development of SafeDisc and SafeCast DRMs. It can be used to bypass checks like CD/DVD validation, trial, online-activation (for beta games), execution-count and of silent CD/DVD checks.

Ubisoft used a cracked exe from Reloaded for the PC game Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 after a new patch broke legally downloaded versions of the game.

On March 5, 2012, Reloaded released a cracked version of Mass Effect 3 the day before its official release. An incomplete uncracked version was already available on February 14. On October 29, 2013, RELOADED released a cracked Version of Battlefield 4 on the day of its release. On May 26, 2014, RELOADED released a cracked version of Ubisoft’s much-anticipated open-world hacking game, Watch Dogs, the day before its official release on May 27. The group released a cracked version of Far Cry 4 days before its release date that was on 18 November 2014 because they acquired the game on 11 November due to a leak by the German Amazon.com.

Razor 1911 (RZR) is a warez and demogroup founded in Norway, 1985. According to the US Justice Department, Razor 1911 is the oldest software cracking group that is still active on the internet.

The group was founded as Razor 2992 by Doctor No, Insane TTM and Sector9 in Norway in October 1985 as a Commodore 64 software cracking group. Shortly after, they changed from 2992 to 1911 which translates to 777 in hexadecimal.

Between 1987 and 1988 the group began to move away from the Commodore 64 and migrated to a new hardware platform, coding demos and cracking games for the Amiga. In the very early 1990s Razor 1911 made another transition, this time to the IBM PC, foremost as a cracking group, but still continuing to release cracktro loaders, demos and music.

Razor was a supply group on diskette from 1992 until diskettes were abandoned for CD-ROMs. Throughout the 1990s Razor faced competition from many different groups, ranging from groups such as Tristar & Red Sector inc. (TRSi), International Network of Crackers (INC), The Dream Team (TDT) and Fairlight (FLT) in 1994 to Prestige, Hybrid (HBD), and others in 1995. Razor was revitalised by new members gained from another group, Nexus, who brought with them some UK suppliers and the leaders The Speed Racer (TSR), Hot Tuna and The Gecko. Razor had a handful of others throughout the 1990s, such as Zodact, The Renegade Chemist (TRC), The WiTcH KiNG, Butcher, SwiTch, Marauder, and Randall Flagg.

In 1995 diskette releases were rapidly being supplanted by CD-ROMs, and Razor 1911 moved into the CD-ripping scene. The crew that led Razor into this new chapter included members such as TSR, Pharaoh, Fatal Error, GRIZZLY, Suspicious Image, Third Son, Hot Tuna, Beowulf, Pitbull, Bunter, Manhunter, Niteman, Vitas, Mausioso and The Punisher.

Razor once again took on a new challenge when the ISO scene was formed. Razor 1911 began to release ISOs when they became the standard of the day, led most significantly by The Punisher. He was instrumental in Razor’s recovery and its solid performance in the ISO scene. Following The Punisher’s retirement, Razor was led by various different people and underwent some internal problems in the form of leadership challenges. This was solved when Pitbull, an old Razor member from the 1990s, took over the leadership role. The FBI claimed him to still be the leader of Razor at the time when “Operation Buccaneer”, an international anti-piracy operation which led to raids at the homes of over 60 piracy suspects worldwide in 2001, was carried out even though NFOs and scene activity at the time points out The Renegade Chemist as actual leader of the group.

Hoodlum (also known as HLM) mainly focused on cracking games which utilized digital rights management solutions offered by Safedisc and Securom. They were targeted as part of the Operation Site Down raids in 2005. In July 2018, HOODLUM again started releasing Mac, PC & PS4 games.

PLAZA is a warez group which does not primarily focus on cracking games but rather providing a complete package of all DLC’s and additional content along with the main game.This also includes additional language pack and DlC content and providing additional updates released later on.

GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through its digital platform for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux. In March 2012, it began selling more recent titles such as Alan Wake, Assassin’s Creed and the Metro Redux series, among many others.

Denuvo is developed by Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH, a software company based in Salzburg, Austria. The company was formed through a management buyout of DigitalWorks, the arm of the Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation that developed the SecuROM DRM technology. In January 2018, the company was acquired by larger software company Irdeto. As of August 2018, the company employs 1,000 people, up from originally 45. Development of the Denuvo software started in 2014. FIFA 15, released in September 2014, was the first game to use Denuvo.

3DM, a Chinese warez group, first claimed to have breached Denuvo’s technology in a blog post published on 1 December 2014, wherein they announced that they would release cracked versions of Denuvo-protected games FIFA 15, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Lords of the Fallen. Following onto this, 3DM released the version of Dragon Age: Inquisition about two weeks after that game had shipped. The overall cracking progress took about a month, an unusually long time in the game cracking scene. When asked about this development, Denuvo Software Solutions acknowledged that “every protected game eventually gets cracked”. However, technology website Ars Technica noted that most sales for major games happen within 30 days of release, and so publishers may consider Denuvo a success if it meant a game took significantly longer to be cracked. In January 2016, 3DM’s founder, Bird Sister, revealed that they were to give up on trying to break the Denuvo implementation for Just Cause 3, and warned that, due to the ongoing trend for the implementation, there would be “no free games to play in the world” in the near future. Subsequently, 3DM opted to not crack any games for one year to examine whether such a move would have any influence on game sales.

By October 2017, crackers were able to bypass Denuvo’s protection within hours of a game’s release, with notable examples being South Park: The Fractured but Whole, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Total War: Warhammer 2 and FIFA 18, all being cracked on their release dates. In another notable case, Assassin’s Creed Origins, which wrapped Denuvo within security tool VMProtect as well as Ubisoft’s proprietary DRM used for their Uplay distribution software, had its security features bypassed by Italian collective CPY in February 2018, three months after the game’s release. In December 2018, Hitman 2’s protection was bypassed three days before its official release date due to exclusive pre-order access, drawing comparisons to Final Fantasy XV, which had its protection removed four days before release.

By 2019, several products like Devil May Cry 5, Metro Exodus, Resident Evil 2, Far Cry New Dawn, Football Manager 2019 and Soul Calibur 6, were cracked within their first week of release, with Ace Combat 7 taking thirteen days. In the case of Rage 2, which was released on Steam as well as Bethesda Softworks’ own Bethesda Launcher, the Steam version was protected by Denuvo, where as the Bethesda Launcher version was not, leading to the game being cracked immediately, and Denuvo being removed from the Steam release two days later.

A sister product, Denuvo Anti-Cheat, was announced in March 2019.

FairLight (FLT) is a warez and demo group initially involved in the Commodore demoscene, and in cracking to illegally release games for free, since 1987. In addition to the C64, FairLight has also migrated towards the Amiga, Super NES and later the PC. FairLight was founded during the Easter holiday in 1987 by Strider and Black Shadow, both ex-members of West Coast Crackers (WCC). This “West Coast” was the west coast of Sweden, so FairLight was initially a Swedish group, which later became internationalized. The name was taken from the Fairlight CMI synthesizer which Strider saw Jean Michel Jarre use on some of his records.

Several high-ranking members of the group were caught on April 21, 2004, 8 months after the group returned from their temporary “retirement” that began on June 9, 2003 and ended on August 30, in an FBI operation called Operation Fastlink.

Police forces from eleven countries were involved, arresting about 120 people and seizing more than 200 computers (including 30 servers). One server from the U.S. raid contained 65,000 pirated titles which were alleged to be in the archive repository of the group.

The operation was coordinated by the FBI, the British National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, the German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) and the Business Software Alliance, and took place in 27 U.S. states. In the UK, seven computers were seized and three arrests made in Belfast, Manchester and Sheffield. In Singapore, three people (22, 30 & 34 years old) were arrested. In the Netherlands two servers owned by students on 2 universities were investigated by police officers. Other arrests and seizures were made in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, and Sweden for a total of 11 countries.

According to rumor, the raid occurred just before the warez group would have released the game Hitman: Contracts. The game was released by other groups (iNSOMNiA, for Xbox and PS2, and Razor 1911, for PCs) a few days later.

Shortly after the Operation Fastlink raids, council member [Bacchus] writes:

Protections of today are ones that *very* few can penetrate and those who do, should be worthy the respect. Downloading them fast is just a matter of a fast line in combination to access to a site. Skills stay, whereas the access can be revoked instantly!

The last massive warez-related raid prior to Fastlink was Operation Buccaneer which targeted DrinkOrDie (amongst others) in December 2001.

Since October 2006 the ISO division of FairLight has started releasing again.

Recently joining the scene, EMPRESS (also known as EMP) Is a peer-to-peer cracker. Her latest successes are cracking Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 in collaboration with Mr.Goldberg. She recently managed to beat the latest DENUVO V10 anti-tamper system alone. Some of her recent releases feature Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Assassin’s Creed: Vallhala & Forza Horizon 4. She is speculated to be working on Watch Dogs: Legion Crack. Her identity is speculated to be a Woman, Also know is that she is deep in Philosophy.