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Denuvo Anti-Tamper (Not to be confused with Denuvo Anti-Cheat) is a video game DRM software distributed by the company Irdeto. It is commonly referred to simply as “Denuvo” and it is currently the most advanced video game DRM on the market. The goal of Denuvo is to make cracking a game as difficult as possible in order to protect a game’s launch window. Denuvo does this successfully in most cases, however it has been cracked multiple times. These cracks have mostly been done by a mysterious cracker known as Empress.
You may also be looking for: [[Denuvo Anti-Cheat]]


===Editor's note: this article is subject to restructuring in the future to instead have Denuvo be the primary page rather than a redirect. This and the anticheat article names may be retired as a result.===
{{StubNotice}}
[[wikipedia:Denuvo|'''Denuvo Anti-Tamper''']] (not to be confused with Denuvo Anti-Cheat) is a video game [[DRM|digital-rights management]] (DRM) software developed as the successor to [[SecuROM]] by [[Sony]] Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) since 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Purchese |first=Robert |date=19 Dec 2014 |title=Don't call it DRM: what's Denuvo Anti-Tamper? |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/denuvo-anti-tamper-drm |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=EuroGamer}}</ref> After a buyout in 2018, it is now distributed by the company [[Irdeto]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Ivy |date=23 Jan 2018 |title=Irdeto acquires Denuvo in bid to beef up security for the games industry |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/irdeto-acquires-denuvo-in-bid-to-beef-up-security-in-the-games-industry |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Games Industry}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Ivy |date=29 Aug 2018 |title=Denuvo: "There is no uncrackable game. What we do is protect the initial sales" |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/denuvo-and-irdeto-on-protecting-early-sales-from-piracy |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Games Industry}}</ref> It is commonly referred to simply as “Denuvo”, and it is currently the most advanced video-game DRM on the market. The goal of Denuvo is to make cracking a game as difficult as possible, in order to protect a game’s launch window.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=6 Feb 2018 |title=Denuvo: Our cracked RE7 protection is still better than nothing [Updated] |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/02/denuvo-our-cracked-re7-protection-is-still-better-than-nothing/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=ArsTechnica}}</ref> Denuvo does this successfully in most cases, but it has been cracked multiple times. These cracks have mostly been done by a mysterious cracker known as Empress.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Anastasio |first=Cecilia |date=22 Feb 2021 |title=The Woman Bulldozing Video Games’ Toughest DRM |url=https://www.wired.com/story/empress-drm-cracking-denuvo-video-game-piracy/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Wired}}</ref>


The cost to Developers-
==General problems==


According to leaked documents Denuvo has a base cost of $25,000 per month, with an additional $0.50 per game sold. However it is worth noting that Denuvo does not provide a standard price on their website, so this price may not apply in some situations.
===High resource usage<!--Potential sources https://www.thefastcode.com/en-idr/article/what-is-denuvo-and-why-do-gamers-hate-it  https://whyisdenuvobad.github.io/-->===
Despite Denuvo's denials,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lemon |first=Marshall |date=4 Sep 2018 |title=Two Point Hospital no longer uses Denuvo DRM |url=https://www.vg247.com/two-point-hospital-no-longer-uses-denuvo-drm |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=VG247}}</ref> its software has been documented to consume a lot of computer resources,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Machkovech |first=Sam |date=26 Dec 2018 |title=Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/evidence-continues-to-mount-about-how-bad-denuvo-is-for-pc-gaming-performance/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=ArsTechnica}}</ref> notably documented for ''Tekken 7''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vazquez |first=Suriel |date=14 Apr 2018 |title=DRM Software Causing Performance Issues In PC Version Of Tekken 7, Says Producer |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2018/04/14/drm-software-causing-performance-issues-in-pc-version-of-tekken-7-says-producer.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521071901/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2018/04/14/drm-software-causing-performance-issues-in-pc-version-of-tekken-7-says-producer.aspx |archive-date=21 May 2018 |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Game Informer}}</ref> and ''Sonic Mania Plus,''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leri |first=Michael |date=20 Jul 2018 |title=Sonic Mania Plus DRM Protection Slowing Down Legitimate Copies |url=https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/409231-sonic-mania-plus-drm-protection-slowing-down-legitimate-copies |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Game Revolution}}</ref> both games where slowdown is extremely detrimental to players, especially in competitive settings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 Nov 2017 |title=Does modern DRM really hurt gaming performance? |url=https://megagames.com/editorials/does-modern-drm-really-hurt-gaming-performance |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Mega Games}}</ref> This slowdown often encourages users to prefer a crack of the game as soon as a crack releases, as seen by early cracks significantly harming sales.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tyson |first=Mark |date=13 Oct 2024 |title=Publishers face 20% game revenue reduction if Denuvo DRM is cracked quickly, according to new study |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/publishers-face-20-percent-game-revenue-reduction-if-denuvo-drm-is-cracked-quickly-according-to-new-study |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref><!--I believe that DRM contributes to sales loss when a crack releases, moreso because the crack is the better version of the product on the market, plus also licensing fees for early/day 1 cracks are harmful for developers.-->Consumers who run lower-end hardware are often unable to even launch these games without running cracked versions, especially when the game's publisher has under-optimized it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bayley |first=Dominic |date=24 Sep 2024 |title=Are modern PC games badly optimized or is it just time to upgrade? |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/2455340/are-modern-pc-games-badly-optimized-or-is-it-just-time-to-upgrade.html |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=PCWorld}}</ref>


==Notable anti-consumer events==


The cost to Gamers-
===[to be filled in]===


Denuvo has long been blamed for causing poor performance in games. This is the result of gamers testing official Denuvo games and cracked pirated Denuvo games side by side, with results showing that the pirated version has better performance. Denuvo denies this however, and blames developers for implementing Denuvo into their games poorly. It is also worth noting that Denuvo claims on their website that their DRM does not cause performance decreases. Developers on the other hand, blame Denuvo for making a bad product. Many developers have stopped Denuvo all together, with others using it but removing it from their games after some time has passed. All of this has resulted in Denuvo’s brand image being severely tarnished, with them being unable to even host a Discord sever due to the amount of harassment and trolling they faced.
==To maybe delete==
Editor's note: This section of the article is unsupported and lacks significant development. It may be deleted, or if verifiable sources can be located, it will be integrated into the rest of the article.<!--Source with charts!
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/new-study-piracy-can-reduce-sales-revenues-by-20-when-denuvo-is-cracked-very-early-on-while-leads-to-nearly-zero-revenue-loss-after-12-weeks.1676167/-->
 
 
According to a listing on AWS Denuvo has a base cost of $25,000 per month, with an additional $0.50 per game sold. However it is worth noting that Denuvo does not provide a standard price on their website, so this price may not apply in some situations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Denuvo Anti-Tamper |url=https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-x443idlstvufi |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=AWS Marketplace}}</ref>
 
Developers have also blamed Denuvo for negatively impacting performance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parsons |first=Don |date=14 Apr 2018 |title=Tekken Director Says Denuvo Behind Recent Performance Issues On PC |url=https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/tekken-director-says-denuvo-behind-recent-performance-issues-on-pc |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Tech Raptor}}</ref> Many developers have stopped using Denuvo in their games<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ariyasinghe |first=Pulasthi |date=15 Oct 2024 |title=BioWare confirms Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't have Denuvo or any third-party DRM |url=https://www.neowin.net/news/bioware-confirms-dragon-age-the-veilguard-wont-have-denuvo-or-any-third-party-drm/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Neowin}}</ref>, with others using it but removing it from their games after some time has passed<ref>{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Danny |date=11 Apr 2023 |title=Square Enix and Capcom remove Denuvo DRM from multiple games |url=https://hitmarker.net/news/square-enix-and-capcom-remove-denuvo-drm-from-multiple-games-2007312 |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Hitmarker}}</ref>. Controversies surrounding performance issues has resulted in Denuvo’s brand image being severely tarnished, with them being unable to even host a Discord sever properly due to the amount of harassment and trolling they faced.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Joseph |date=17 Oct 2024 |title=New Denuvo Discord Temporarily Suspended After Deluge of Hate Messages |url=https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/denuvo-discord-suspended-inappropriate-content |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Tech Raptor}}</ref>
 
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Denuvo]]

Latest revision as of 10:10, 5 April 2025

You may also be looking for: Denuvo Anti-Cheat

Editor's note: this article is subject to restructuring in the future to instead have Denuvo be the primary page rather than a redirect. This and the anticheat article names may be retired as a result.[edit | edit source]

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Denuvo Anti-Tamper (not to be confused with Denuvo Anti-Cheat) is a video game digital-rights management (DRM) software developed as the successor to SecuROM by Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) since 2014.[1] After a buyout in 2018, it is now distributed by the company Irdeto.[2][3] It is commonly referred to simply as “Denuvo”, and it is currently the most advanced video-game DRM on the market. The goal of Denuvo is to make cracking a game as difficult as possible, in order to protect a game’s launch window.[4] Denuvo does this successfully in most cases, but it has been cracked multiple times. These cracks have mostly been done by a mysterious cracker known as Empress.[5]

General problems[edit | edit source]

High resource usage[edit | edit source]

Despite Denuvo's denials,[6] its software has been documented to consume a lot of computer resources,[7] notably documented for Tekken 7[8] and Sonic Mania Plus,[9] both games where slowdown is extremely detrimental to players, especially in competitive settings.[10] This slowdown often encourages users to prefer a crack of the game as soon as a crack releases, as seen by early cracks significantly harming sales.[11]Consumers who run lower-end hardware are often unable to even launch these games without running cracked versions, especially when the game's publisher has under-optimized it.[12]

Notable anti-consumer events[edit | edit source]

[to be filled in][edit | edit source]

To maybe delete[edit | edit source]

Editor's note: This section of the article is unsupported and lacks significant development. It may be deleted, or if verifiable sources can be located, it will be integrated into the rest of the article.


According to a listing on AWS Denuvo has a base cost of $25,000 per month, with an additional $0.50 per game sold. However it is worth noting that Denuvo does not provide a standard price on their website, so this price may not apply in some situations.[13]

Developers have also blamed Denuvo for negatively impacting performance.[14] Many developers have stopped using Denuvo in their games[15], with others using it but removing it from their games after some time has passed[16]. Controversies surrounding performance issues has resulted in Denuvo’s brand image being severely tarnished, with them being unable to even host a Discord sever properly due to the amount of harassment and trolling they faced.[17]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Purchese, Robert (19 Dec 2014). "Don't call it DRM: what's Denuvo Anti-Tamper?". EuroGamer. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Taylor, Ivy (23 Jan 2018). "Irdeto acquires Denuvo in bid to beef up security for the games industry". Games Industry. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ Taylor, Ivy (29 Aug 2018). "Denuvo: "There is no uncrackable game. What we do is protect the initial sales"". Games Industry. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ Orland, Kyle (6 Feb 2018). "Denuvo: Our cracked RE7 protection is still better than nothing [Updated]". ArsTechnica. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (22 Feb 2021). "The Woman Bulldozing Video Games' Toughest DRM". Wired. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Lemon, Marshall (4 Sep 2018). "Two Point Hospital no longer uses Denuvo DRM". VG247. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (26 Dec 2018). "Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance". ArsTechnica. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ Vazquez, Suriel (14 Apr 2018). "DRM Software Causing Performance Issues In PC Version Of Tekken 7, Says Producer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.
  9. ↑ Leri, Michael (20 Jul 2018). "Sonic Mania Plus DRM Protection Slowing Down Legitimate Copies". Game Revolution. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ "Does modern DRM really hurt gaming performance?". Mega Games. 10 Nov 2017. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ Tyson, Mark (13 Oct 2024). "Publishers face 20% game revenue reduction if Denuvo DRM is cracked quickly, according to new study". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Bayley, Dominic (24 Sep 2024). "Are modern PC games badly optimized or is it just time to upgrade?". PCWorld. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ "Denuvo Anti-Tamper". AWS Marketplace. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ Parsons, Don (14 Apr 2018). "Tekken Director Says Denuvo Behind Recent Performance Issues On PC". Tech Raptor. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ Ariyasinghe, Pulasthi (15 Oct 2024). "BioWare confirms Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't have Denuvo or any third-party DRM". Neowin. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ Craig, Danny (11 Apr 2023). "Square Enix and Capcom remove Denuvo DRM from multiple games". Hitmarker. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ Allen, Joseph (17 Oct 2024). "New Denuvo Discord Temporarily Suspended After Deluge of Hate Messages". Tech Raptor. Retrieved 5 Apr 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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