Normally, ‘Tycoon’ games are a fun way to experience a day in the life of someone in a career way cooler than yours. Many gamers have fond memories of Roller Coaster Tycoon growing up, and I was such a tycoon fiend that I even somehow ended up playing Mall Tycoon – and no, it wasn’t that good.
I haven’t tried out Game Dev Tycoon yet, but I do like the sneaky approach the devs have taken to combating piracy. Game Dev Tycoon is a business simulator that – you guessed it – allows players to run their own game development studio.
In the game, it’s the players’ goal to create bestselling games while researching new technologies and inventing new types of games. The ultimate goal is to become a market leader and gain fans around the world.

Sounds like a fun game so far, right?

Well, Game Dev Tycoon is a fun game. Unfortunately, many people aren’t experiencing the game the way it’s supposed to be experienced because they pirated the game. And unfortunately for pirates, the creators of Game Dev Tycoon released a cracked version of the game days before the real game was released.
And here’s the sneaky part: that cracked version of the game is special. It contains a bug that, after a certain point in time, causes all of your games to fail due to excessive piracy. You have to watch your company slowly go bankrupt while shaking your fists at pirates.
Yes, this is probably the most ironic way to combat piracy. And yes, it’s far more effective than stupid technologies like the ‘always-on’ DRM that EA became famous for following the SimCity debacle.  And no, you shouldn’t pirate good PC games.

Some people get the irony, others don’t

I can’t tell if this guy is serious or just really dumb.