In the annals of video game piracy, certain release notes (.nfo files) become etched into history. For sports gamers and PC security experts alike, few keywords carry as much weight as FIFA 17-STEAMPUNKS .
Games protected by early versions of Denuvo routinely went without being cracked. Rise of the Tomb Raider lasted several months. Just Cause 3 held out for nearly six. The industry breathed a sigh of relief. For publishers like EA, Denuvo was the silver bullet that would protect AAA annual franchises like FIFA . FIFA 17-STEAMPUNKS
However, the group’s disappearance was as mysterious as their arrival. By late September 2017, their website (a simple WordPress blog) went offline. Their scene releases stopped. In the annals of video game piracy, certain release notes (
Within 24 hours, the crack was verified. The impossible had happened: A brand new group had cracked the latest version of Denuvo in a matter of weeks while established veterans had failed for months. While STEAMPUNKS never released their source code (fueling endless speculation), reverse engineers deduced the method. Rise of the Tomb Raider lasted several months
STEAMPUNKS vanished as quickly as they appeared, leaving behind only an .nfo file and a fractured DRM industry. They proved one thing that remains true today: There is no such thing as an unbreakable lock. There are only locks that haven't been picked yet.
When FIFA 17 launched in September 2016, it was armed with the latest version of Denuvo. The scene assumed it was safe. For nearly ten months, they were right. On August 11, 2017, a previously unknown release group appeared on the scene. They didn't have a long history. They didn't have a flashy reputation. They simply released an .nfo file titled FIFA.17- STEAMPUNKS .