Repacks are typically built from cracked versions of games, which means their distribution bypasses digital rights management (DRM). This is in most countries unless you already own an original copy of the game. However, some users argue that repacks are more akin to "backups" — a claim that has been tested and mostly defeated in court.

A repack is a version of a PC game that has been heavily compressed using specialized algorithms. The primary goal of a repack is to reduce the initial download size as much as possible for users with slow or capped internet connections. Once downloaded, the installer decompresses the assets back to their original size on the user's hard drive.