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If you haven't read my other guides, I recommend checking them out before reading the megathread.

Contents: ​

Required Components and Debloating Utilities for Maximum Performance and Compatibility ​

Side note: Kinda funny how in order to debloat Windows, you have to add more bloat.

Torrent Sites: ​

Note: A VPN is highly recommended, you might get a letter from your ISP if you torrent without a VPN

Visit this section of the qBittorrent guide to understand why

Direct Download Sites: ​

Note: A VPN is not required for Direct Downloads

Directly downloading something means you're just downloading it normally like you always do i.e. using a web browser such as Firefox or Chrome. These are generally the safest form of downloading pirated content since the only entitites that could know you're downloading are the site provider themselves and your ISP. In most cases, your ISP will not care,

It is highly recommended to use a Download Manager such as JDownloader2 for using these websites, visit the JDownloader2 Guide to learn more.

PGames Recommendations: OVAGames & Steam Underground Visit the CS.RIN.RU Guide to understand how it works.

Trainers (Cheats): ​

Note: These are only for single player games. Do not use cheats in online games! We do not provide cheats for multiplayer games!

Repacks: ​

Repacks are highly compressed games, designed for people with slow/limited internet bandwidth. Once you download them, you must install them on your computer which can take a long time due to file decompression.

Release Networks: ​

Please note, none of these sites provide downloads, only information on Scene/P2P releases. Looking to see if a game is cracked? Check here!

VR Gaming ​

  • FFA @Loader (Best Quest Sideloader, Includes Downloader), FFA Gui (Install PCVR Repacks Easily), VRL (Easier Way To Open Pirated Games in SteamVR)
  • VRP Similiar to FFA but slower and usually uploads FFA Releases
  • CS.RIN.RU - Steam Underground Community Great for Clean Files and you can use SAC - Steam Emulator Script to easily Crack them.
  • Scooter Repacks Occasionally has VR Repacks
  • SteamRIP Has some Steam VR Games sometimes

Mac Gaming ​

ROM Sites: ​

This section is too big to fit here, please visit Consoles Guide for more information.

Torrent Software: ​

PGames Recommendation: qBittorrent. Here's a great guide to get started with qBittorrent.

Download Helpers/Managers: ​

PGames Recommendation: JDownloader2. Here's a great guide to get started with JDownloader2.

Tools: ​

Useful Software: ​

For Microsoft products (Windows/Office) you can use MAS to activate them.

For Adobe products, visit m0nkrus.

Useful Browser Extensions: ​

Please visit the browser extension guide for more information: https://gitlab.com/ZediAlreadyTaken/guides/-/blob/main/browser-extensions.md

Unsafe software: ​

  • BitTorrent - Same as μTorrent, has ads, trackers, and is unsafe.
  • μTorrent - Same as BitTorrent, has ads, trackers, and is unsafe.
  • CCleaner - Owned by Avast.
  • Avast - Notorious for collecting and selling user data.

Untrusted sites/uploaders: ​

The Pirate Bay/TPB: Do not use the pirate bay or any of its mirrors to download games/software. High malware risk, even from skulled users
Kickass Torrents/KAT: Kat went down in 2016. Don't rely on any supposed mirrors floating around.
BBRepacks: BlackBox Repacks impersonator. Malware in the Doom Eternal repack posted on TPB and 1337x
Qoob/Seyter: Qoob is the name that Seyter switched to after having been caught adding a bitcoin miner to his JC3 repack. More info on Qoob
CorePack: Malware in a long list of their releases. Some background. Their official statement
Ocean Of Games: Malware risk and past history of coin miners included in their installers
NosTEAM: Shitty blog site with shoddy ads. Torrent downloads are handled by an intermediary ~3 MiB executable file: the epitome of shady behavior.
igg-games.com / pcgamestorrents.com / gamestorrent.co:

Please do not use IGG Games ​

  1. Ads built into the game at runtime: https://i.redd.it/x1gz0rbix1721.jpg
  2. DRM added to their releases which prevents the game from launching if removed: https://i.imgur.com/pNjo10d.png
  3. Cryptominers and startup malware included in their games: https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/bzczk6/i_think_i_found_an_infected_game_on_igggamescom/eqsqqj0/
  4. Attempting to install browser hijackers: https://www.unddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/apcvx4/deleted_by_user/
  5. Javascript malware on their website: https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/9f1rf2/igg_games_now_downloads_adware_into_your_computer/
  6. Bad behaviour from site owners: https://web.archive.org/web/20220305120030/https://reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/apcvx4/here_we_go_again_igg_this_time_im_not_reporting/

Any website using the name of a Scene group (such as CODEX, CPY, SKIDROW, HOODLUM, RELOADED, SiMPLEX, DARKSiDERS, PLAZA, etc.).
Scene groups do not have public websites. If you find a site using the name of a scene group, they are impersonators.
Beware of these sites as they tend to package their releases with malware.

Any site you find on Google by searching for "free game downloads", "cracked games", etc.
Google de-lists piracy websites from its search results, which means that fake/impostor/malware-spreading sites will float to the top of the search results.

Any "cracked games" site or download you find on Youtube

Any aggregator site like snowfl or DHT crawler like btdb, btdig, etc. Not because the sites intend to infect you with malware, but because their intent is to aggregate as many publicly available torrents as possible into one place. This can include torrents that have been posted to TPB or otherwise spread publicly via the DHT network. You should only grab games from sites that take a personal hand in adding content (excludes sites that auto-post scene releases, in which case they would need to be vetted to make sure that their posts are real scene releases) rather than automatically aggregating from hundreds of unknown sites.

Credit: Masquerade, r/Piracy wiki, r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH, ripped.guide ​