Illegally downloading Quantum Break literally makes you a pirate

Quantum Break eye patch

Well here's something interesting – if you pirate Quantum Break on Windows 10, the game marks your act of villainy with a rather interesting addition to the main character's wardrobe.

Yes, protagonist Jack Joyce will don an eye patch in true 'avast me hearties' style if you're playing an illegally downloaded version of the game on your PC.

Apparently this also happens if you're not signed in to the Windows Store before you fire up Quantum Break, as noted by the non-pirating Reddit user who spotted this little 'Easter egg'.

As Windows Central spotted, developer Remedy Entertainment confirms in Quantum Break's Windows 10 FAQ that failure to be logged in to your Microsoft account could accidentally trigger the game's DRM.

Cap'n Alan Wake

If you remember Remedy's Alan Wake on Steam, you may also recall that the developer did the same thing with the main character and an eye patch with messages also included urging folks to buy the game on loading screens.

While this is certainly a neat idea in theory, there's always the (very real) danger that the eye patch is seen as a badge of coolness rather than any kind of shame, and therefore it might be seen as a cool thing to be playing a cracked version of Quantum Break.

Or you could simply just not login to your Microsoft account to get that pirate look, although it's unclear whether there are any further punitive measures for eye patch-wearing Jack Joyces out there in the longer term.

Image Credit: Windows Central

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).