Jason Thor Hall is not only successful on Twitch under the name “Pirate Software”, but also publishes indie games on Steam. To thwart pirates, the developer came up with something quite special.
What kind of developer is this? Jason Thor Hall worked at Blizzard and Amazon before founding his own indie studio Pirate Software. Under this name, he also streams on Twitch – and with great success. We have already taken a closer look at his success story on MeinMMO.
The studio has released 2 games on Steam so far: The RPG Heartbound, which has been in Early Access since 2018, and Champions of Breakfast, a crazy arcade-style “shoot ’em up” that revolves around the most important meal of the day.
As our colleagues at 3D Juegos report, the developer found an unusual solution to protect his game from pirates.
Champions of Breakfast is currently not available on Steam in Germany, likely due to a legal regulation that came into effect in Germany on November 15, 2024. Here you can get an impression of the game:
Developer boasts “unpiratable” game
Here’s how the trick worked: As Hall revealed in a stream on Twitch, he used the achievements on Steam to protect his game from pirates. These achievements are usually awarded in games for reaching certain moments in the story or achieving special feats. They have no further function.
However, in Champions of Breakfast, the achievements also serve as save points. For this purpose, the game features a hefty 160 achievements that must be unlocked. Players can earn them by, for example, defeating a certain number of enemies or defeating a boss.
When starting the game, it checks which achievements you have unlocked on Steam – and based on that, it loads the corresponding progress and unlocked abilities.
If you play Champions of Breakfast illegally outside of Steam, you will find that when you next open the game, all your progress is gone: After all, there are no Steam achievements to load.
The developer himself explains the principle in this clip:
However, this system is not as “unpiratable” as the developer presents it. Clever pirates can surely find a way to circumvent the limitations. Or, as users joke in the comments on YouTube, enjoy the game as a “roguelike” – with permadeath and no lasting progression.
Hall finds his solution for protecting his game “laughable”.
According to the tracking website Steam Hunters, none of the registered players there have managed to unlock all 160 achievements yet.
The fight against pirates has been ongoing for decades among media creators. However, not all developers see it so strictly. A solo dev had a surprising response when someone “stole” his game: Student boasts about illegally downloading an indie game – Gets a response from the developer
