Square Enix and Capcom remove Denuvo DRM from multiple games
by Danny Craig
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Square Enix
After years of fan complaints, two major publishers, Square Enix, and Capcom have removed the infamous anti-piracy DRM (digital rights management) Denuvo from a handful of titles.
The details:
- Square Enix's 2022 releases of Valkyrie Elysium and Triangle Strategy have both been updated on Steam to remove Denuvo entirely, as discovered by ResetEra user nsilvias. Not only has Square Enix abandoned the controversial DRM, but Capcom recently removed it from Resident Evil Village after nearly two years, joining previous titles such as Devil May Cry 5, which had the anti-tamper technology removed after release. Crytek reportedly paid €140,000 to include the anti-piracy measure in Crysis Remastered for a year, so it's possible that both publishers decided the cost was simply not worth it now that sales have slowed since the games' releases.
- On the other hand, it appears that Bethesda doesn't want to take any chances and would rather deal with the potential performance hits, as Arkane Austin's upcoming vampire shooter, Redfall, will feature Denuvo from the start. The game will also be online-only at launch, despite its developer confirming that an offline mode is being looked at, prompting fans to boycott the title entirely after its inclusion was confirmed via its Steam page. Although the DRM will almost certainly be defeated shortly after launch, the short delay it causes for those attempting to crack the code could result in stronger launch sales, which often account for a large portion of a game's total units sold.
- Denuvo is widely regarded as one of the worst anti-piracy measures that game developers could implement. Its goal is to prevent pirates from distributing games online after release, a problem that has existed since the early days of PC gaming. As expected, the DRM has often failed to achieve this goal, only delaying pirates by days or weeks at most. The addition of Denuvo has repeatedly resulted in poor performance and other issues such as graphical bugs, with the effects being so severe in some cases that they can render a game "unplayable" due to stutters, which has sparked outrage among those who do not pirate the titles.
More Square Enix and Capcom news:
- Square Enix has announced that the long-awaited Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster will be released on April 19 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The first six mainline titles will feature new visuals and a variety of gameplay features that will make the games easier or harder depending on which options the player chooses to change.
- Capcom reached its highest stock price in company history following the successful release of Resident Evil 4’s remake, hitting ¥4,865—a significant increase over the ¥390 it sat at around a decade ago.
