A game with a malicious crack that can escape a VM running on Windows and get to the main OS?

Sure, possible, but not by any means common.

A game with a malicious crack made for Windows that can... do anything nefarious when you're running it on linux via WINE and Proton?

... Theoretically possible, but I've never heard of this actually occuring.

The same, but also inside another linux OS inside of a Bottle or Distrobox... or full VM... all running on a linux system that is significantly atomized with a read only core-os?

... At that point I am quite doubtful anyone is bothering to make a malicious crack that capable... when 99% of the existing game trainers and hacks that you can find or buy online... only work on Windows.

The crowd of people making game exploits and cheat engines... and the crowd of people making malicious game cracks.... that venn diagram is almost a circle... and 99% of these people do not bother to 'support' linux, in anyway, at all, with anything they do.

Is using any random cracked software ever 100% safe? No.

But neither is say, using a Windows system, with 0 cracks or hacks... but with a MSFT trusted vendor's 3rd party anti malware software... where said trusted vendor is allowed to push an unverified update to their kernel level anti-malware system... that is actually malformed, and then knocks out about 1/4 of every enterprise Windows PCs on Earth for 2 weeks.

They added spyware to it.

Here is excerpt from the tos, shared by user in steam reviews of the game.

::: spoiler important Info in Terms of Service:

• Mods are a bannable offense
• Display of Cheats/Exploits is bannable
• Forced arbitration clause and a waiver of class action and jury trial rights for all users residing in the United States and any other territory other than Australia, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, or The Territories of The European Economic Area
• You can be banned for using a VPN while connecting to online servers
• Cannot access game content on a Virtual PC

Collected Data Types:
• Identifiers / Contact Information: Name, user name, gamertag, postal and email address, phone number, unique IDs, mobile device ID, platform ID, gaming service ID, advertising ID (IDFA, Android ID) and IP address
• Protected Characteristics: Age and gender
• Commercial Information: Purchase and usage history and preferences, including gameplay information
• Billing Information: Payment information (credit / debit card information) and shipping address
• Internet / Electronic Activity: Web / app browsing and gameplay information related to the Services; information about your online interaction(s) with the Services or our advertising; and details about the games and platforms you use and other information related to installed applications
• Device and Usage Data: Device type, software and hardware details, language settings, browser type and version, operating system, and information about how users use and interact with the Services (e.g., content viewed, pages visited, clicks, scrolls)
• Profile Inferences: Inferences made from your information and web activity to help create a personalized profile so we can identify goods and services that may be of interest
• Audio / Visual Information: Account photos, images, and avatars, audio information via chat features and functionality, and gameplay recordings and video footage (such as when you participate in playtesting)
• Sensitive Information: Precise location information (if you allow the Services to collect your location), account credentials (user name and password), and contents of communications via chat features and functionality.
:::

I wouldnt touch anything this company has produced.

I think it's kind of ironic you call your friend apparently a dipshit for not knowing something you also didn't know... pot calling the kettle black & all.

I know thats not a risk for you, but this data could genuinely be used by the us government to do that in the near future, for many marginalized populations.

Especially queer people and anyone who could be seen as an immigrant.

Some of us have real problems in life, and have to actually give literally a single fuck about the world.

Then the death squads will come in, and they'll ask 'how could this possibly happen!?', getting fucking pissed or saying "we couldn't have known!" when you answer, and offer an 'i fucking told you so' in line for the camps.

You're there too, because they tagged you in everything.

Publisher made it free to propagate their spyware.

Happy cake day

They added spyware to it.

No, they didn't.

Just because something sounds outrageous, doesn't mean it is true.

Borderlands 2 hasn't been updated since 2022:

Borderlands - Last updated: 3 August 2016
Borderlands 2 - Last updated: 4 August 2022
Borderlands 3 - Last updated: 8 August 2024

No Borderlands titles include anti-cheat: https://areweanticheatyet.com/?search=borderlands

Here is another person, 7 years ago trying the exact same outrage-based engagement farming strategy of linking a TOS update and implying a nefarious intent: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8naopt/take_two_a_spyware_apocalypse/ It's exactly the same "Take two is spying on you!!!" content and yet, none of the Borderlands games have added spyware and none have added kernel anti-cheat.

Also, if you read the 2018 and 2025 TOS you will notice notice that the information that they collect in the 2025 TOS ( https://www.take2games.com/legal/en-US/ ) is exactly the same as it was in 2018.

TL;DR - Just because you read it on the Internet, doesn't mean it is true.

Thats a windows thing so it can put files in “protected” folders like program files

The unfortunate thing about the UAC prompt is that it gives the software permission to put files in protected folders, but it also gives the software root permission so it can do literally anything else without prompting the user. Except, I believe, if it tries to install unsigned kernel drivers, then the user has to click a new prompt... but you can completely compromise a machine with the permissions that users routinely give to executables that they download from the Internet.

The point is that the license agreement for this game and others owned by this company didn’t say this shit before, and now they do.

That's just not true.

Here's a Reddit user trying the same kind out outrage farming 7 years ago using Take 2's TOS and implying it allows spyware: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8naopt/take_two_a_spyware_apocalypse/

If you look at Valve's TOS or any other game developer who has games with an online component, you will see the exact same language regarding data collection. The language being added is to comply with laws, like the GDPR, which requires specific language indicating what data is collected and how it is used.

The data that is being collected is the same as it was 10 years ago. There's nothing new here, just a YT video that got a lot of views and social media being full of people who don't fact check anything.

from my, apparently, dipshit friend (no, this is not the only stupid thing he's done).

Reading comprehension is hard. I get it.

Probably because borderlands 4 is on the horizon and sweat-gland randy caught some flag for tweets.

My guess is that it was planed to be good PR.

Yes, the government is going to get you by installing spyware in a game launcher that nobody uses. You won't care a shit about or vet at code level any of the 200+ closed source games you will play in your life because they're all fine in your fantasy land, but one game launcher is out to kidnap you.

You know the parent company has military contracts, right?

Same is true of any software these days, not just cracks...

If a game, application, device or EULA changes in a way you find unacceptable, after you've purchased it, you should be able to get your initial purchase price back. And if you paid with your data, you need to be able to demand they delete all your data. I think that law would be entirely reasonable and would do a lot of good.

This is true. Even projects with good reputations get caught up in shit like the XZ back door in Linux.

If you haven’t read up on that fiasco, you really should look into it. It got way too far before being caught all because people suck and ruin things for others.

I sometimes wonder what I casually believe because I read it while scrolling for something interesting. I don't have the time or inclination to fact check every single detail I come across.

Totally. And then these rebuttals are time consuming to fact check too.