If you decided to grab a copy of EA's recently-released simulation game, The Sims 4, without paying for it, you might run in to a few issues playing it. Player Attack reports that some pirates have found themselves battling against the developer's clever anti-piracy system, which doesn't prevent you from playing the game, but instead tries to censor it.
Normally, as has been the case in all past versions of The Sims, when a Sim hops on the toilet or enters the shower, a small patch of pixelation appears to ensure you don't see any virtual genitals. This pixelation disappears when the Sim puts clothes on, and you can go on playing the game as normal.
However if The Sims 4 detects that you're a pirate, the pixelation won't go away. Instead it begins expanding, eventually occupying the entire screen, making it very difficult to play the game. The only solution is to restart the game and ensure you don't enter a toilet or shower.
Some pirates have taken to The Sims' official forum to complain about the issue, calling it a 'bug' with the game. EA, however, has no plans to address the issue, stating that any gamers who run into widespread pixelation should buy a legitimate copy of the game.
A select few people are also reporting that the issue is occurring with their legitimate copies of the game, but with EA not planning to change the system, they're probably out of luck.
Meanwhile, the latest cracked version of The Sims 4 appears to have resolved the issue with pixelation not disappearing. As the game was released just a few days ago, once again cracking teams have showed that most methods of DRM simply aren't very effective or long-lasting.