Darksiders Piracy |work| Jun 2026

In 2017, Nordic re-released Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (a 4K remaster of the first game) and Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition . They did two things differently:

The result? Warmastered Edition sold more copies in its first month on GOG than the original did in three months on Steam. By treating pirates as potential customers rather than criminals, Nordic unlocked a dormant market. darksiders piracy

The "Deathinitive Edition" releases years later were, in many ways, a response to this. By offering a polished, all-inclusive package on modern storefronts like Steam and GOG (which is famously DRM-free), the new publishers, THQ Nordic, pivoted their strategy. They banked on the idea that would outweigh the "price" of zero dollars offered by piracy. The Denuvo Era: Darksiders III By treating pirates as potential customers rather than

In a 2011 investor call, THQ CEO Brian Farrell admitted that while Darksiders was a hit, its profitability was “severely impacted” by piracy rates exceeding 80% on PC. This led THQ to deprioritize PC ports for future titles—a decision that would haunt them later. They banked on the idea that would outweigh

While they are a prolific group, some users in communities like TPB on Reddit suggest their releases may sometimes be heavily compressed or lack DLC compared to other groups like FitGirl or DODI.