Game piracy

A game piracy guide.

Last edited: October 27, 2025.

⚠️ Warning: Piracy is illegal and safety cannot be guaranteed! Use at your own risk. I am not responsible for malware or other consequences that might result from following this guide. If security is a priority, stay away from piracy and buy the games from an official publisher.
❗ Important: I do not promote piracy! This is only for educational purposes and a reaction on the many harmful and poorly written guides on this topic. Please buy the games if you can, whether physically or digitally, to support the developers.

# Requirements

| Hardware

| Software

Windows (11):

GNU/Linux:

| Emulators

Gaming emulators are required in order to play games from various consoles. RetroArch is the recommended emulator. If you have Steam, please install RetroArch from there, as it offers automatic updates and can backup your save files with Steam Cloud. Achievements are available using RetroAchievements.

RetroArch currently does not have cores for consoles newer than the 3DS, and these cores may be less performant or have fewer features compared to the standalone emulator. The Emulation General Wiki provides a good overview of the available options and their advantages and disadvantages. Switch emulators do require firmware and product keys.

Use Flashpoint (easier for many people) or Ruffle for Flash games.

Trusted sites are GOG Games and the Steam Underground Community (login required) for Windows games, and /r/Roms Megathread and notUltraNX for roms (can be played with an emulator).

ℹ️ Note: Roms downloaded from notUltraNX are .nsz archives and need to be decompressed to .nsp first using NSZ in order to make them playable with an emulator.

Games from GOG are generally safer and easier to set up compared to Steam games, so if a game is on GOG, please download it from GOG Games or this forum from the Steam Underground Community instead. Try only downloading "clean Steam files" (CSF) from the Steam Underground Community and "cracking" them yourselfs, as it requires less trust. For more information about how to use "CS.RIN.RU" (Steam Underground Community), please read this guide written by MIDNYTE.

Current suggestions are based on how trusted they are by the community, their track record (e.g. no malware) and the overall experience with the site, like download speeds and the amount of ads and popups. Please always be careful when downloading from sites like these and always check for malware.

While Linux native game piracy sites exist, it is recommended to use the Windows version instead and just running it with Proton inside Lutris. Performance should be comparable. If you still prefer to use Linux native games, then you can find some on Torrminatorr.

❗ Important: Avoid torrents. If you must use them, please connect to a VPN first.

# Setup

❗ Important: Please first read the FAQs before proceeding.

| GOG

Windows (11):

Simply run the installer and follow the instructions. No workarounds are required.

GNU/Linux:

  1. Open Lutris and navigate to Preferences > Updates and download the latest version of Wine.
  2. Navigate to Add Games > Search the Lutris website for installers.
  3. Search for your game and follow the instructions.
  4. Right click on the game that you just added and navigate to Configure > Runner options and change the Wine version to GE-Proton (Latest)
  5. If a game has trouble launching, you can try adding an argument on the tab "Game options". ProtonDB can help with finding the right arguments.

| Clean Steam files

❗ Important: Some games do not rely on Steam and work just fine without a Steam emulator or any other modifications. Please try launching the game and see if things work before making things complicated.
💡 Tip: On the same topic as where you downloaded the game on the Steam Underground Community, people sometimes give suggestions about how to launch the game properly.

A Steam emulator is required in order to run clean Steam files. Detanup01's Goldberg Steam Emulator fork is the recommended Steam emulator. [gbe_fork is not a virus!] Using it can be quite complicated, but it comes down to this:

  1. Download the latest release from GitHub (emu-win-release.7z for both Windows and Linux).
    • If Windows Defenser Antivirus blocks it, add an exclusion at Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Add or remove exclusions. Only do this if you are certain that it is a false positive and trust it!
  2. Extract the archive using your archiver tool.
  3. There are 2 ways to apply the Steam emulator. If one does not work, try the other one:

    Method 1:

    1. Search for both a steam_api.dll and steam_api64.dll inside your clean Steam files (not every game has both .dlls).
    2. Copy the .dll(s) to tools > generate_interfaces.
    3. Follow this guide in order to generate the steam_interfaces.txt file and put it in a newly created steam_settings folder next to the .dll(s) of the clean Steam files. On GNU/Linux, you would need to use the tool made for Linux, which can be downloaded on the same page as linked earlier at step 1.
    4. Create a file named steam_appid.txt inside the same steam_settings folder and put the App ID (which can be found on SteamDB) of the game inside of this file.
    5. Go back to the Steam emulator files and go into the regular folder. Replace both the steam_api.dll and steam_api64.dll inside your clean Steam files with these new ones.

    Method 2:

    1. Go into the steamclient_experimental folder and move ColdClientLoader.ini, GameOverlayRenderer.dll, GameOverlayRenderer64.dll, steamclient.dll, steamclient64.dll, steamclient_loader_x32.exe and steamclient_loader_x64.exe next to the original steam_api(64).dll inside your clean Steam files.
    2. Edit ColdClientLoader.ini and fill in the relative path of the .exe from where the steam_api.dll is located, potential arguments and the App ID, all of which can be found on the "Configuration" tab of the game on SteamDB (the executable on SteamDB is not relative, so check if it is correct).
  4. You are now done installing the Steam emulator. I did not cover the many possible configurations, as it would get too complicated and many people probably do not need them anyway. Same goes for achievement support.
  5. If the game is known for adding DRM (other than Steamworks), you need to remove/crack it first using Steamless. Using Steamless is very straightforward and I do not think that there is a need for me to explain the application in detail. To know if a game has DRM, you can search for it on the "Metadata" tab on SteamDB.

Windows (11):

If you have used method 1, simply open the .exe of your game.

If you have used method 2, open either steamclient_loader_x32.exe or steamclient_loader_x64.exe, depending on what architecture your game requires (steam_api.dll or steam_api64.dll).

GNU/Linux:

  1. Open Lutris and navigate to Preferences > Updates and download the latest version of Wine.
  2. Navigate to Add Games > Add locally installed game.
  3. Select the runner "Wine" and change the Wine version to GE-Proton (Latest) at the "Runner options" tab.
  4. Select the appropriate executable file under the "Game options". The information for Windows above is also true here.
  5. Head over to SteamDB and go to the "Configuration" tab of the game.
  6. Fill in the appropriate information and potentially add an argument and/or working directory. If you have used method 2, you do not need to add the arguments again.
  7. If the game still has trouble launching, you can try adding an (additional) argument on the tab "Game options". ProtonDB can help with finding the right arguments.

| Emulation

Please refer to the official documentation of the emulator you wish to use.

RetroArch:

RetroArch has official documentation about how to use the emulator, but here is a TL;DR:

  1. Install the core of the emulator you are going to use. If you do not know what the appropriate emulator is for your specific game, please search for one on the Emulation General Wiki (only ones with a Libretro core are available).
    • On Steam, you need to go to "Manage Cores" on the main menu of RetroArch and then click on the core you wish to install.
    • On any other platform, go to "Online Updater" on the main menu of RetroArch, then go to "Core Downloader" and click on the core you wish to install.
  2. Make any necessary changes on the "Settings" tab, like input if you are going to use a gamepad or achievement support with RetroAchievements.
  3. On the main menu of RetroArch, click on "Import Content" and then scan the file or directory of where your rom(s) are stored.
  4. If everything went correctly, you should now see your game(s) in the bottom left of the main menu. You can simply click on your game and hit "Run".
  5. To access your menu when you are in-game, simply press F1. You can also make "Save States" here or change core settings if you wish to do so.

# FAQs

How can I check if something is a virus?

Please use VirusTotal to analyse suspicious files and detect malware. On Windows, the built-in Windows Defender Antivirus also does a solid job at detecting malware, so there is no need for a (probably worse) third-party antivirus. Note that false positives are possible.

Also consider using Windows Sandbox or Hyper-V to install, test and use programs in a (disposable) virtual machine, completely separate from your main operating system.

On GNU/Linux, there is less need for an antivirus, as most malware tends to be aimed towards Windows machines. It is definitely not impossible though, so please still be careful.

Can I get achievements?

Short answer: no. It is technically possible to use tools like generate_emu_config_old to generate a steam_settings folder with achievements and display those achievements with Achievement Watcher, but it is quite complicated to set up and neither project is maintained anymore. It also gives you another reason to just buy the game instead.


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