Update 3 : DarkC0der has cracked it. Read all about it in this article.
UPDATE 2: More info on DRM. It looks like this game is protected by TAGES + Internet Activation + Solidshield, a very new version of that too. GOW NFO does not specify this. A little worrying news for pirates because this protection is considered extremely hard to crack (several previous TAGES titles have been cracked, though. See second comment for this article by LST for specific cases).
UPDATE: [NUKED] not.cracked_activation.issues.still.occur. Also, there seems to be some kind of DRM present so we stand corrected.
Original Article: Actually the title of this post is a little misleading - there is no anti piracy protection embedded in this game to actually crack. But yes, the latest title in the famed Chronicles of Riddick series has been leaked on the internet, right on the game's official North American release date.
Surprisingly, Chronicles of Riddick : Assault on Dark Athena comes with no embedded DRM software which is a rare occurrence with PC games these days (EDIT: See UPDATE 1 and 2 below). The game's sole defence against piracy is the old school serial key protection, through which scene group GOW apparently got through pretty easily.
GOW's release which is around 7GB in file size includes a full DVD ISO of the game as well as a CD Key. Since there is no online activation or validation, a single serial will suffice for an unlimited number of pirates - however they will be royally screwed if they tried to use the multilayer component. Like all scene releases, GOW's release has now made its way into 'the wild'. It's now leaked to private trackers, public BitTorrent sites, public FTP dumps, one click hosting sites and pretty much anywhere else warez is hosted/tracked/linked. Anyways the contact E-mail address mentioned in GOW's NFO is interesting. It's the first time I've seen a scene group use a Gmail address.
Speaking of the game, I think this one is going to be a big hit in 2009 (the series's previous title (Escape from Butcher's Bay) too was a blast back when it was released. Developers seem to have done lots of thing right (including the decision to go DRM free) here so if you can buy it, go ahead and show some support.
Note: Do not post links to cracks, key generators, torrents or any other warez material here. We are a news site only.
