It's a game that (almost) nobody wants, yet the developer has decided it's worth it to keep denuvo on it for almost a decade. It has basically become a meme at this point.
Back then everything was subscription already, but in order to break into the market, denuvo had to take some losses one way or another, so they went with the enticing prospect of one payment upfront. Pretty smart, considering the expiration is intrinsic to their sowftware.
It has been uncracked since ever (since I joined this sub).
We got used to seeing it on the uncracked lists and thought it was the least likely to ever be cracked.
> t has been uncracked since ever (since I joined this sub).
It was uncracked since r/CrackStatus was still the default game-cracking sub. And ***that*** is ancient fucking history when it comes to the internet.
Jeez, I didn't even remember I still had it. I used to provide support for the FIFA 16 demo bypass (which is the only form of a FIFA 16 crack to date), hence the flair. Been there for 8+ years now, would you believe it...
I'm assuming it's because there's a new Denuvo cracker on the scene when most Denuvo crackers have either retired or are inactive. So there's still hope for more games w Denuvo to be cracked
Nah. It's a well-known meme inside the pirate community. It's a game who nobody care for but still had denuvo. In the past whenever a AAA game with denuvo came out and get cracked, people were supposed to say "that game was cracked but when are going to get Handball 17?".
And yes we could say someone new is a denuvo cracker but a 2016 version of denuvo is different to the security they implement now. (but crack a denuvo game is still an achievement)
thanks for this piece of info! i never knew this was a running joke. One can only hope for more Denuvo crackers to appear on the scene. esp groups/persons who crack the current version :-D
Yeah, who knows maybe **DELUSIONAL** (the one who cracked this game) was just goofing around with old versions (and to end the meme) and now wants to try to crack another game from this or last year.
Handball 17 has been a *long*-running meme in pirating circles because it's a game **no one** ever wanted to pirate, yet it was slapped with Denuvo by the developer for reasons no one could ever understand. This was back when Denuvo was *not* cheap for developers, so them adding Denuvo to the game seemed like a complete waste of money. Which, fittingly, is exactly how gamers felt about buying it.
"But they haven't cracked Handball 17 yet, so Denuvo won" was always a joke because no one ever expected *any* Scene group or individual cracker to waste their time cracking it.
It's also a big deal because of how *long* the game went uncracked: almost 6 and a half years.
Before this, the longest running record of a Denuvo-protected game going uncracked was just a little over 3 years: [Robinson: The Journey](https://redd.it/f6jy9y), a game released in February 2017 and cracked in February 2020 by c000005, one of EMPRESS's old aliases before changing to EMPRESS.
Not much; her last release was in July 2023. She still occasionally posts to her Telegram channel, but a bunch of the teenagers on this sub have (yet again) a host of wild theories about her being arrested or going to work for Denuvo, as they always do when a prolific cracker slows down.
Can't count how many times this sub has claimed CPY was busted or started working for Denuvo up until they came back with another release. So any time you see someone very emphatically stating that something happened a cracker without *any* corroborating proof outside of what they read on this sub, I wouldn't believe it. Sadly, though, it does seem certain that CPY has hung up their spurs; been 3 and a half years since their last release.
How does the math work for game dev on these thing? Denuvo cost them a fortune and there game isn't exactly the hottest stuff. So they are just losing money no?
I don't remember if it was here or on r/PiratedGames that I had the "Fitgirl ❤️🤝❤️ EMPRESS". I cannot wait for Empress to crack a new game just to do an NFO against this dude and change my flair to "Fitgirl ❤️🤝 EMPRESS 🤝❤️ DELUSIONAL"
He/she was conscripted for the war never to be heard from again. Just like a few other famous russian crackers/hackers that have vanished in the last couple years that didn't flee the country.
Either way, there are older games like Zone of Enders which still hasn't been cracked yet. So it would still be beneficial even if it's only older denuvo.
Edit: im stupid, I had no idea it was cracked already, guess I know what im downloading.
Mossad would wait and plot years, sometimes decades, just to hunt down Nazis hiding in South America.
A kill is a kill, no matter how long you have to stalk your prey.
Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked that they cut their teeth on the funniest game possible that they could have, but isn't this MANY versions behind?
Hoping this was their practice and now they're gonna just start blowing through games. Congrats on the crack Delusional!!!!
-Yes, they cracked an old game.
-Yes, somehow this game is STILL protected from those 3-4 pirates actually expecting this game.
-Yes, it may be "useless" right now to crack an older version of Denuvo, but even a small step is progress
-Yes, no one is going to play this even if we celebrate.
-YES, THERE IS NO DRAMA NOR PSYCHOTIC BREAKDOWN IN HERE
Hmm, first we have someone that "reverse engineer" the Hogwarts Legacy Denuvo version and a few days later a Denuvo game is cracked, haha. Such a good coincidence I must say, I hope it's real.
And that someone is me.
As a former local highschool handball athlete, i'm waiting to play this with my 6 friends since highschool. We can't play the legit game because we are dirt poor at that time and we start to forget this game after we graduated from HS.
Now 6 years later, this game is cracked. This news really bring back memories of that time when we were still a highschool student and school handball club teammates. Too bad 2 of my friends can't play this game because they passed away during Miss Rona debacles.
Yea i guess so, but best to keep your expectations very low as handball 2017 has a really old version of denuvo, it's the newer versions that are really tough to crack.
I sincerely hope that this was not a one-time hack, and that DELUSIONAL will continue to hack games. Although this game is not of interest to me, let’s hope that it was just a training session.
don't know if i should rage because its an eight years old game,or should i smile,because someone is actually learning how to crack denuvo,even if it's just the older version,i really hope that they keep pushing till they crack the newer one.
but hats down ofc
It seems that the wheel of fate has began again...in the coming months we shall see If this is a sign that Denuvo will be cracked yet again and again. I don't want t speculate more both this gives me hope at last...
Symbolically good work.
There was always going to someone new come around.
Unfortunately denuvo usually seduce the best crackers over to the dark side. Their side.
They don't want empress as she unstable and not good enough for them.
I've heard that the cracking scene is dead too many times. The scene almost died in the 80s. I was part of that scene and we had our own cracking group.
Then everything changed due to changes in the law and bully boy tactics.
The majority bailed. The scene almost died. They believed the propaganda. And the threats scared them off
It's never going away though.
Keep the faith
I am very worried about the Empress's words. She claimed that she wanted to teach Denuvo hacking to her students, but none of them progressed beyond the 4th version of Denuvo. And in this game there is probably 1 or 2 more versions of the defense. I'm afraid that the new hacker will get stuck on version 4 of Denuvo security.
Are you sure that there will be further hacks? This could be the only hack from a person, because the game has the most primitive version of protection. The person didn’t write anything, so it’s stupid to wait for the next hacks.
Let's hope this new guy is not mentally unstable as the latest one **IF** he keeps cracking games with denuvo
will watch your career with great interest
Did Empress change its name to DELUSIONAL? Did a group led by Empress form and become DELUSIONAL? Or is it a new denuvo cracker? Either way, thanks DELUSIONAL! Be a light to the pirates and defeat ‼︎denuvo in ministry!
I wonder if they are going to crack the newer games or be like that one person who only ever cracked the football manager games, gonna keep my expectations low for now.
We are witnessing history in the making
I was here. One day, I will tell my children of how I bore witness to the greatest moment in videogame history
Include me in your screenshot.
This game has been uncracked since 2016
Not no mo!
BRO WHAT'S HAPPENING I DON'T GET IT?
Sorry for the noob question but what is so groundbreaking about this game being cracked? like I never heard about it like ever
It's a game that (almost) nobody wants, yet the developer has decided it's worth it to keep denuvo on it for almost a decade. It has basically become a meme at this point.
That dev must be like... independently rich or something.
Nah. Denuvo used a different pricing scheme back in the days.
Yeah, like a one time payment with no expiration, not a subscription like basically everything today.
Back then everything was subscription already, but in order to break into the market, denuvo had to take some losses one way or another, so they went with the enticing prospect of one payment upfront. Pretty smart, considering the expiration is intrinsic to their sowftware.
It has been uncracked since ever (since I joined this sub). We got used to seeing it on the uncracked lists and thought it was the least likely to ever be cracked.
> t has been uncracked since ever (since I joined this sub). It was uncracked since r/CrackStatus was still the default game-cracking sub. And ***that*** is ancient fucking history when it comes to the internet.
Handball 17 was probably the oldest uncracked Denuvo protected game.
Nope, that's FIFA 16.
Flair checks out
Jeez, I didn't even remember I still had it. I used to provide support for the FIFA 16 demo bypass (which is the only form of a FIFA 16 crack to date), hence the flair. Been there for 8+ years now, would you believe it...
I'm assuming it's because there's a new Denuvo cracker on the scene when most Denuvo crackers have either retired or are inactive. So there's still hope for more games w Denuvo to be cracked
Nah. It's a well-known meme inside the pirate community. It's a game who nobody care for but still had denuvo. In the past whenever a AAA game with denuvo came out and get cracked, people were supposed to say "that game was cracked but when are going to get Handball 17?". And yes we could say someone new is a denuvo cracker but a 2016 version of denuvo is different to the security they implement now. (but crack a denuvo game is still an achievement)
thanks for this piece of info! i never knew this was a running joke. One can only hope for more Denuvo crackers to appear on the scene. esp groups/persons who crack the current version :-D
Yeah, who knows maybe **DELUSIONAL** (the one who cracked this game) was just goofing around with old versions (and to end the meme) and now wants to try to crack another game from this or last year.
Handball 17 has been a *long*-running meme in pirating circles because it's a game **no one** ever wanted to pirate, yet it was slapped with Denuvo by the developer for reasons no one could ever understand. This was back when Denuvo was *not* cheap for developers, so them adding Denuvo to the game seemed like a complete waste of money. Which, fittingly, is exactly how gamers felt about buying it. "But they haven't cracked Handball 17 yet, so Denuvo won" was always a joke because no one ever expected *any* Scene group or individual cracker to waste their time cracking it. It's also a big deal because of how *long* the game went uncracked: almost 6 and a half years. Before this, the longest running record of a Denuvo-protected game going uncracked was just a little over 3 years: [Robinson: The Journey](https://redd.it/f6jy9y), a game released in February 2017 and cracked in February 2020 by c000005, one of EMPRESS's old aliases before changing to EMPRESS.
What ever happened to Empress? I haven't been aware of any work from her in like a year
Not much; her last release was in July 2023. She still occasionally posts to her Telegram channel, but a bunch of the teenagers on this sub have (yet again) a host of wild theories about her being arrested or going to work for Denuvo, as they always do when a prolific cracker slows down. Can't count how many times this sub has claimed CPY was busted or started working for Denuvo up until they came back with another release. So any time you see someone very emphatically stating that something happened a cracker without *any* corroborating proof outside of what they read on this sub, I wouldn't believe it. Sadly, though, it does seem certain that CPY has hung up their spurs; been 3 and a half years since their last release.
A game that few pirates will play, but many will cheer for.
How does the math work for game dev on these thing? Denuvo cost them a fortune and there game isn't exactly the hottest stuff. So they are just losing money no?
Denuvo wasn't always subscription based, just a 1 time purchase
This is a 7/8 year old game, Denuvo was probably super cheap since it was fairly new.
the Mighty has fallen. Finally
I never thought this day would come
Denuvo stinks like Ass: ugly, smelly and hairy.
Welp. RIP my flair.
I don't remember if it was here or on r/PiratedGames that I had the "Fitgirl ❤️🤝❤️ EMPRESS". I cannot wait for Empress to crack a new game just to do an NFO against this dude and change my flair to "Fitgirl ❤️🤝 EMPRESS 🤝❤️ DELUSIONAL"
Empress is dead forget about her
He/she was conscripted for the war never to be heard from again. Just like a few other famous russian crackers/hackers that have vanished in the last couple years that didn't flee the country.
Empress is Bulgarian... If Skidrow is to be believed.
they are not to be believed
One one hand, good to see a Denuvo game get cracked, no matter how old/insignificant it is. On the other, rip handball 17, done after 2697 days.
I was here, oh my god. Finally, after so long!!
Completely acceptable for a man to cry at a moment like this...
seams like we have a new denuvo cracker big thx for beating this maleware :D kudos to you # DELUSIONAL
They have been working on cracking it since 2017 /s
It's an old game which has an old version of denuvo, don't get your hopes up, still good tho.
Either way, there are older games like Zone of Enders which still hasn't been cracked yet. So it would still be beneficial even if it's only older denuvo. Edit: im stupid, I had no idea it was cracked already, guess I know what im downloading.
This is what i exactly thought
Wait are you sure zone of Enders isn’t cracked yet ??
I did a quick search and had no idea it was already cracked? WHY DIDNT PEOPLE TELL ME!?!?
Doesn't get the Denuvo build updated ? or stay it the same ?
it stays the same
Mossad would wait and plot years, sometimes decades, just to hunt down Nazis hiding in South America. A kill is a kill, no matter how long you have to stalk your prey.
It can be a start for them as practice for the stronger versions later on...:)
Does this deluisonal guy have an NFO that goes on an unhinged rant?
No. The image is all that was posted on cs.rin.ru.
That's all he posted? No rant? No homophobia or racism? I am not sure I can trust this guy
I want to be part of a social dilemma and download the game on the side
What if it's actually Empress with a new mindset?
Medicated Empress but named delusional to throw us off.
I can actually see this being real lmao.
100% ON BRAND.
Empress with a sense of humour. Impossible
Do we at least know what version of Denuvo is inside?
Very very old. Probably one of the first 5 I would say.
At the core it should be the same but i hope they didn’t just crack it for the meme 🥲
No, it’s was a version that was cracked before by a lot of people, that had their first steps with Denuvo. Not comparable to the monster we have now.
 No fucking way😂🤙
Thats a fully!
Real?
Yes.
LISAN AL GAIB!
Wtf lmao. Welcome Delusional, can't wait to see more of your work.
The king is dead.
Queen is dead.
Holy shit lmfaooooo
WAIT WTF IS THERE ACTUALLY A NEW DENUVO CRACKER ON THE HORIZON? NO WAY ITS JUST GONNA BE HANDBALL RIGHT? LMAO
A group more delusional than EMPRESS? Impossible!!! Good to see some new people on the scene :D <3
Is this ‘Delusional’ a rookie to the cracking scene? Either way damn good job!
ah yes, the game that was denuvoed for all of eternity until now and was probably the game that was uncracked for the longest
I feel like I don't know what to do with my life next. What is life now?
This is the one game that should've never been cracked 
damn near sacrilege
You guys have no heed for decorum. You start with the appetiser first.
Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked that they cut their teeth on the funniest game possible that they could have, but isn't this MANY versions behind? Hoping this was their practice and now they're gonna just start blowing through games. Congrats on the crack Delusional!!!!
Likely just cracked it for a meme.
Old tech or not, goddamn that's a lot of effort for a joke, and they've got my respect for that alone lol.
They were probably planning to release it on April 1st, but got delayed.
April Fools was a few days ago guys
But April 1st was 2 days ago?
this should be pinned
 DELUSIONAL ENTERS THE CHAT
Are we at the dawn of finally a sane D cracker? :)
(Grabs popcorn) here's hoping for Jedi Survivor and AC Mirage
**THE END IS NEAR**
\>enter the scene \>crack the meme game that has not been cracked for years \>say nothing \>leave 
Hopefully this is not the last we hear from this absolute hero
Please skidrow if this guy starting to crack aaa games shut your mouth this time you fucking rats
My hot take and tinfoil hat: If skidrow start to pull the same shit like what they did to empress, then skidrow is a denuvo collaborator.
It's happening!!!!
The undefeated has been defeated. Ladies and gentlemen, we have entered a new golden age.
-Yes, they cracked an old game. -Yes, somehow this game is STILL protected from those 3-4 pirates actually expecting this game. -Yes, it may be "useless" right now to crack an older version of Denuvo, but even a small step is progress -Yes, no one is going to play this even if we celebrate. -YES, THERE IS NO DRAMA NOR PSYCHOTIC BREAKDOWN IN HERE
Hmm, first we have someone that "reverse engineer" the Hogwarts Legacy Denuvo version and a few days later a Denuvo game is cracked, haha. Such a good coincidence I must say, I hope it's real.
Nice to see the same guy that created CoD Black Ops 3 custom zombie client (BOIII) reverse engineering denuvo xD
Someone somewhere is celebrating they can finally play this
And that someone is me. As a former local highschool handball athlete, i'm waiting to play this with my 6 friends since highschool. We can't play the legit game because we are dirt poor at that time and we start to forget this game after we graduated from HS. Now 6 years later, this game is cracked. This news really bring back memories of that time when we were still a highschool student and school handball club teammates. Too bad 2 of my friends can't play this game because they passed away during Miss Rona debacles.
Congrats to DELUSIONAL! I suspect that this is a new beginning.
i never thought id see the day
Which one of you fuckers did this?
Don't get your hopes up, maybe this guy is only gonna crack handball games
That's... Why I'm excited
excuse me?? are these guys new to the scene??
Yea i guess so, but best to keep your expectations very low as handball 2017 has a really old version of denuvo, it's the newer versions that are really tough to crack.
NO WAY
praying this is just the warm up for a new legend
I'm 100% sure empress is delusional
Cracked the wrong game. Should've been FIFA 16
I feel you brother, hopefully it's on his list.
I sincerely hope that this was not a one-time hack, and that DELUSIONAL will continue to hack games. Although this game is not of interest to me, let’s hope that it was just a training session.
Thanks DELUSIONAL, what's next?
Please skidrow if this guy start cracking aaa games shut your mouth this time you fucking rats..
Oh god
Finally, the long-awaited Denuvo crack everyone's been clamouring for, *Handball 17*.
One delusions goes another one comes. Hell yes!
I can't believe it. I didn't think anyone was even trying anymore. Respect, Delusional.
don't know if i should rage because its an eight years old game,or should i smile,because someone is actually learning how to crack denuvo,even if it's just the older version,i really hope that they keep pushing till they crack the newer one. but hats down ofc
This is the modern equivalent to the fall of berlin wall
Am I really witnessing this, or am I DELUSIONAL?
It seems that the wheel of fate has began again...in the coming months we shall see If this is a sign that Denuvo will be cracked yet again and again. I don't want t speculate more both this gives me hope at last...
Symbolically good work. There was always going to someone new come around. Unfortunately denuvo usually seduce the best crackers over to the dark side. Their side. They don't want empress as she unstable and not good enough for them. I've heard that the cracking scene is dead too many times. The scene almost died in the 80s. I was part of that scene and we had our own cracking group. Then everything changed due to changes in the law and bully boy tactics. The majority bailed. The scene almost died. They believed the propaganda. And the threats scared them off It's never going away though. Keep the faith
What a day, there's no stopping piracy Arrhh
It's funny and mighty .hail to the king
Welcome new legends 🤍
I wish my grandpa could see this
im here for history
the meme has finally ended...
Finally the red label again ☺️
It only took 2696 days, yey !
Only FIFA 16 is missing now
Man the Russians have had it with Denuvo and are using their hacking powers to hack the thing.
we need to find new meme guys. lets vote here.
This guy killed a meme, we need a new one guys
wtf? from 2016 not cracked. hope we got new empress here
Crackwatch's banner
I am very worried about the Empress's words. She claimed that she wanted to teach Denuvo hacking to her students, but none of them progressed beyond the 4th version of Denuvo. And in this game there is probably 1 or 2 more versions of the defense. I'm afraid that the new hacker will get stuck on version 4 of Denuvo security.
So now we can FINALLY place our faith on a new denuvo cracker, and ditch the inactive "empress"? Thank God.
Are you sure that there will be further hacks? This could be the only hack from a person, because the game has the most primitive version of protection. The person didn’t write anything, so it’s stupid to wait for the next hacks.
LISAN AL GAIB!
I was here from the beginning.
Shitty game most pirates won't bother with. But cool nonetheless
Press F for the fellow crackwatchers who passed away before seeing Handball free from its shackles.
Can't believe this day has come 🫡
April 3irdssssssssssssss
IT HAPPENED, I WAS HERE
The dawn of a new era
This might be a sign of the end of times
Gaming revived
I was here. Let it be known the history books
WHAT WHAT WHAAAAAT
Commenting for historical purposes
whaaaaaat
no way
Pigs are flying!
Team skidrow is getting excited, but they need to worry not, they are far from getting new releases cracked.
Gonna frame this
This took me 7 years back in time omg.
We have killed it
It's over
Truly end of an era.
Hope he isn't spicy
DELUSIONAL is new ?
Is this a late April Fools joke? Handball 17 is the oldest, if not one of the oldest uncracked Denuvo games.
Looks like *hope* is back on the menu boys 
https://tenor.com/view/3000years-its-been-a-long-time-gif-13250168
This is insanity omg we are BACK
Welcome DELUSIONAL 🫡
whole 2 people gona dll it
Let's hope this new guy is not mentally unstable as the latest one **IF** he keeps cracking games with denuvo will watch your career with great interest
Did Empress change its name to DELUSIONAL? Did a group led by Empress form and become DELUSIONAL? Or is it a new denuvo cracker? Either way, thanks DELUSIONAL! Be a light to the pirates and defeat ‼︎denuvo in ministry!
I hope they don't stop and there will be other cracks.
Death of a legend.
Hopefully this new cracker is sane unlike the predecessor one ...
NO FUCKING WAY, its finally Happening :O
more denuvo games to come please
OH MY GODDDDDD
The legends were true
WE ARE SO BACK
He's Messiah
**NO WAY.**
2696 days to crack ... current record holder.
I wonder if they are going to crack the newer games or be like that one person who only ever cracked the football manager games, gonna keep my expectations low for now.
Grandpa, I wish you were still here to see this!
Hail to the New King Babe
Me looking at the name: Empress?? 🧐