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Copies of Syndicate Come with a .NFO Encouraging Pirates to Apply for a Job

In the arms race between crackers and publishers, crackers seem to be winning because a pirate copy of nearly every game — even those with insane DRM — usually winds up online. Starbreeze, the company behind Syndicate, seem to be using this to their advantage in a weird sort of way by including a .nfo file asking the inevitable pirates “Hey, why don’t you apply for a job here?”

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For those of you who have never pirated a game, or want to pretend you haven’t, .nfo files are text files included with pirated copies of games and normally include three things:

  • An overly ornate ASCII art logo
  • Installation instructions
  • Directions to the cracked .exe file

So why would there be an .nfo file on the legitimate copy of the game? Why indeed. Because Starbreeze knows their audience, the legit one and the pirate one alike. The .nfo file was discovered by redditor MikkelManDK and contains instructions on what jobs may be available and how to go about applying. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not they can recruit any pirates. In any event, it sure is an interestingly lateral response to piracy. Who knows, maybe they can actually catch some flies with that honey.

Here’s the information they had about applying for jobs:

   · ─ ─·-────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·─ ─ ·                         Starbreeze Application Information    · ─ ─·-────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·─ ─ ·      Are you bored with watching from the sidelines? Ready to make the switch?     Do you have considerable talents in any of the following areas?      - Art, modeling, texturing, sound design      - Programming      - Game design      If you meet one or more of those criteria, and want to be a part of the fun,     email us at [email protected] today!      For other ways to contact us, see below.      Over a hundred people spent several years of their lives making this game.     If you like what you play, please consider purchasing it if you haven't     · ─ ─·-────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·─ ─ ·                          How to Contact Starbreeze    · ─ ─·-────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·─ ─ ·                          E-Mail: [email protected]                         Forum:  http://www.starbreezeforum.se/                         Web:    http://www.starbreeze.com/                          SBZ:    No sleep until gold     · ─ ─·-────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-·─ ─ ·

And here’s a link to the .nfo in all its correctly formatted glory.

(via New Scientist)

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