Pirates are already playing Forza Horizon 6 days before its launch
Pirates are already playing Forza Horizon 6 days before its launch
盗版玩家已在《极限竞速：地平线 6》正式发售前提前游玩
Playable copies of Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 6 have appeared on game piracy sites more than a week before the game’s official launch, the apparent result of a mistake in uploading the game’s files to Steam over the weekend. 微软《极限竞速：地平线 6》（Forza Horizon 6）的可玩版本在游戏正式发售前一周多就已出现在盗版网站上，这显然是由于周末在向 Steam 上传游戏文件时出现了失误所致。
Since the early days of Steam, players have been able to preload encrypted versions of supported games well ahead of release so the game is ready to play when the encryption key is released on launch day. 自 Steam 平台早期以来，玩家一直可以在游戏正式发售前预载加密版本，以便在发布日解密密钥发放时即可立即游玩。
But early Sunday morning, Microsoft mistakenly uploaded roughly 155 GB of Forza Horizon 6 files to Steam in unencrypted form, as tracked by SteamDB. That unprotected upload was noticed almost immediately across social media sites and Reddit. 但据 SteamDB 监测，周日凌晨，微软错误地将约 155 GB 的《极限竞速：地平线 6》文件以未加密形式上传到了 Steam。这一未受保护的上传行为几乎立即被社交媒体和 Reddit 上的用户发现。
Within hours, Reddit’s CrackWatch community was reporting that the game’s copy protection had been broken, allowing for easy downloads of pirated versions across multiple piracy sites reviewed by Ars (while that initial CrackWatch post has since been “removed by Reddit’s Legal Operations team,” details of another crack were being discussed on CrackWatch as of Monday morning). 数小时内，Reddit 的 CrackWatch 社区就报告称该游戏的防拷贝保护已被破解，使得 Ars 所查阅的多个盗版网站均可轻松下载该游戏的盗版版本（尽管最初的 CrackWatch 帖子已被“Reddit 法律运营团队删除”，但截至周一上午，CrackWatch 上仍在讨论另一种破解方案的细节）。
As of Monday, footage from Forza Horizon 6 can be seen in multiple YouTube videos and livestreams. 截至周一，YouTube 上已出现多个《极限竞速：地平线 6》的游戏视频和直播片段。
In March, an unencrypted copy of Death Stranding 2 was similarly uploaded to Steam days before the game’s PC release, leading almost immediately to its availability on piracy sites. But Death Stranding 2 had already been available for over a year on the PlayStation 5 when that leak happened, somewhat blunting its overall impact. 今年 3 月，《死亡搁浅 2》的未加密版本也曾在 PC 版发售前几天被上传至 Steam，导致其几乎立即出现在盗版网站上。但由于《死亡搁浅 2》在泄露发生时已在 PlayStation 5 上发售超过一年，其整体影响在一定程度上被削弱了。
Back in 2018, the Denuvo copy protection for Hitman 2 was broken days before the game’s official launch date, thanks to the quick work of crackers working on an early access version made available to preorder customers. 早在 2018 年，《杀手 2》的 Denuvo 防拷贝保护就在游戏正式发售前几天被破解，这归功于破解者们针对预购用户提供的抢先体验版本进行的快速破解。
The unprotected early upload could be a costly mistake for Microsoft, which is set to officially release Forza Horizon 6 on May 19 (or May 15 for those who pre-purchased the $120 Premium Edition). 这次未受保护的提前上传对微软来说可能是一次代价高昂的失误。该游戏原定于 5 月 19 日正式发售（预购了 120 美元高级版的玩家可于 5 月 15 日提前进入）。
A 2024 study of Denuvo protection estimated that when a cracked version of a game is available within the first week of its release, it results an average 20 percent reduction in total revenue. While that study didn’t examine the impact of pre-release cracks, the potential economic impact is likely even higher. 2024 年一项关于 Denuvo 保护的研究估计，如果游戏在发售首周内出现破解版本，会导致总收入平均下降 20%。虽然该研究并未考察发售前破解的影响，但其潜在的经济损失可能会更高。