Denuvo

Last updated

Denuvo Anti-Tamper
Developer(s) Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH
Initial release2014;10 years ago (2014)
Platform Windows
Type Digital rights management
License Proprietary
Website irdeto.com/denuvo/

Denuvo Anti-Tamper is an anti-tamper and digital rights management (DRM) system developed by the Austrian company Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH. The company was formed from a management buyout of DigitalWorks, the developer of SecuROM, and began developing the software in 2014. It was introduced with FIFA 15 in September. In addition to Denuvo Anti-Tamper, Denuvo Software Solutions has developed the anti-cheat system Denuvo Anti-Cheat and Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection, which attempts to prevent Nintendo Switch games from being emulated. The company was acquired by Irdeto in January 2018.

Contents

History

Denuvo is developed by Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH, a software company based in Salzburg, Austria. [1] The company was formed through a management buyout of DigitalWorks, the arm of the Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation that developed the SecuROM DRM technology. [2] In January 2018, the company and its 45 employees were acquired by the software company Irdeto. [3] [4] Development of the Denuvo software started in 2014. [1] FIFA 15 , released in September 2014, was the first game to use Denuvo. [5]

3DM, a Chinese warez group, first claimed to have breached Denuvo's technology in a blog post published on 1 December 2014, wherein they announced that they would release cracked versions of Denuvo-protected games FIFA 15, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Lords of the Fallen . [6] Following onto this, 3DM released the version of Dragon Age: Inquisition about two weeks after that game had shipped. [6] The overall cracking progress took about a month, an unusually long time in the game cracking scene. [2] [7] When asked about this development, Denuvo Software Solutions acknowledged that "every protected game eventually gets cracked". [2] However, technology website Ars Technica noted that most sales for major games happen within 30 days of release, and so publishers might consider Denuvo a success if it meant a game took significantly longer to be cracked. [8] In January 2016, 3DM's founder, Bird Sister, revealed that they were to give up on trying to break the Denuvo implementation for Just Cause 3 , and warned that, due to the ongoing trend for the implementation, there would be "no free games to play in the world" in the near future. [9] Subsequently, 3DM opted to not crack any games for one year to examine whether such a move would have any influence on game sales. [10] Denuvo's marketing director, Thomas Goebl, claimed that some console-exclusive games get PC releases due to this technology. [11]

By October 2017, crackers were able to bypass Denuvo's protection within hours of a game's release, with notable examples being South Park: The Fractured but Whole , Middle-earth: Shadow of War , Total War: Warhammer II and FIFA 18 , all being cracked on their release dates. [12] In another notable case, Assassin's Creed Origins , which wrapped Denuvo within security tool VMProtect as well as Ubisoft's proprietary DRM used for their Uplay distribution software, had its security features bypassed by Italian collective CPY in February 2018, three months after the game's release. [13] In December 2018, Hitman 2 's protection was bypassed three days before its official release date, due to exclusive pre-order access, drawing comparisons to Final Fantasy XV , which had its protection removed four days before release. [14]

By 2019, games like Devil May Cry 5 , Metro Exodus , Resident Evil 2 , Far Cry New Dawn , Football Manager 2019 , and Soul Calibur 6 were cracked within their week of release. [14] [15] In the case of Rage 2 , which was released on Steam as well as Bethesda Softworks' own Bethesda Launcher, the Steam version was protected by Denuvo, whereas the Bethesda Launcher version was not, leading to the game being cracked immediately, and Denuvo being removed from the Steam release two days later. [16] [17]

An anti-cheat sister product, Denuvo Anti-Cheat, was announced in March 2019. [18] It was first used by Doom Eternal following an update in May 2020, although this change was reverted within a week after negative player feedback. [19] [20] In August 2022, Irdeto announced Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection, a DRM system for Nintendo Switch games that aims to prevent them from being emulated with programmes like Yuzu. Nintendo Switch owners widely criticised the announcement on social media, expressing concerns that it would decrease game performance. [21] [22] In response, Denuvo stated that the system would cause no performance impact on genuine hardware. [23] [24] The system was released in August 2023. [25]

Technology

Games protected by Denuvo require an online activation. [26] According to Empress, a notable Denuvo cracker, the software assigns a unique authentication token to each copy of a game, depending on factors like the user's hardware. The DRM is integrated with the game's code, which makes it especially hard to circumvent. [27]

Criticism

Denuvo has been criticised for high CPU usage and excessive writing operations on storage components, the latter potentially causing significant life-span reductions for solid-state drives (SSDs). Denuvo Software Solutions has denied both claims. [28] In the case of Tekken 7 and Sonic Mania Plus , Denuvo caused a significant decrease in performance in several parts of these games. [29] [30] Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica reviewed in-depth how Denuvo was causing performance penalties, releasing an article on the matter in December 2018. [31] In December 2018, Joel Hruska of ExtremeTech compared the performance of multiple games that use Denuvo and found that the games had significantly higher frame rates and lower loading times when the DRM system was disabled. [32] Richard Leadbetter of Digital Foundry found that a pirated version of Resident Evil Village that removed all DRM performed significantly better than the retail version. [33]

In July 2018, Denuvo Software Solutions filed a lawsuit against Voksi, a Bulgarian cracker who had cracked several Denuvo-protected games. [34] Voksi was arrested by Bulgarian authorities, and his website, Revolt, was taken offline. [34]

In November 2021, several recent games using Denuvo were rendered unplayable, reportedly due to a Denuvo-owned domain name expiring. [35] In the same month, it was reported that Denuvo Anti-Tamper was incompatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems running on CPUs in the Alder Lake series. [36] This was fixed by January 2022. [37]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steam (service)</span> Video game digital distribution service

Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve Corporation. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide game updates automatically for Valve's games, and expanded to distributing third-party titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, like game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat measures, social networking, and game streaming services. Steam client's functions include game update automation, cloud storage for game progress, and community features such as direct messaging, in-game overlay functions and a virtual collectable marketplace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paradox (warez)</span> Warez–demogroup

PARADOX (PDX) is a warez–demogroup; an anonymous group of software engineers that devise ways to defeat software and video game licensing protections, a process known as cracking, which is illegal in most jurisdictions. They distribute cracks, keygens, and pre-cracked versions of entire programs. Over the years, distribution methods have changed, starting out with physically transported floppy disks and BBS distribution. Today most of their files reach the public over various peer-to-peer file networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BackupHDDVD</span> AACS decryption software

BackupHDDVD is a small computer software utility program available in command line and GUI versions which aids in the decryption of commercial HD DVD discs protected by the Advanced Access Content System. It is used to back up discs, often to enable playback on hardware configurations without full support for HDCP. The program's source code was posted online, but no licence information was given.

Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM), such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification and distribution of copyrighted works and of systems that enforce these policies within devices. DRM technologies include licensing agreements and encryption.

Platform exclusivity refers to the status of a video game being developed for and released only on certain platforms. Most commonly, it refers to only being released on a specific video game console or through a specific vendor's platforms—either permanently, or for a definite period of time.

Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital storefront for video games, which grew out of its original offering of Humble Bundles, collections of games sold at a price determined by the purchaser and with a portion of the price going towards charity and the rest split between the game developers. Humble Bundle continues to offer these limited-time bundles, but have expanded to include a greater and more persistent storefront. The Humble Bundle concept was initially run by Wolfire Games in 2010, but by its second bundle, the Humble Bundle company was spun out to manage the promotion, payments, and distribution of the bundles. In October 2017, the company was acquired by Ziff Davis through its IGN Entertainment subsidiary.

Video game piracy is the unauthorized copying and distributing of video game software, and is a form of copyright infringement. It is often cited as a major problem that video game publishers face when distributing their products, due to the ease of being able to distribute games for free, via torrenting or websites offering direct download links. Right holders generally attempt to counter piracy of their products by enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, though this has never been totally successful. Digital distribution of pirated games has historically occurred on bulletin board systems (BBS), and more recently via decentralized peer-to-peer torrenting. In terms of physical distribution, Taiwan, China and Malaysia are known for major manufacturing and distribution centers for pirated game copies, while Hong Kong and Singapore are major importers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arxan Technologies</span> US technology security company

Digital Ai is an American technology company specializing in anti-tamper and digital rights management (DRM) for Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, and other applications. Arxan's security products are used to prevent tampering or reverse engineering of software, thus preventing access or modifications to said software that are deemed undesirable by its developer. The company reports that applications secured by it are running on over 500 million devices. Its products are used across a range of industries, including mobile payments & banking, automotive, healthcare and gaming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox (app)</span> Software

The Xbox app is an app for Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, Android, iOS and Tizen. It acts as a companion app for Xbox video game consoles, providing access to Xbox network community features, remote control, as well as second screen functionality with selected games, applications, and content.

Always-on DRM or always-online DRM is a form of DRM that requires a consumer to remain connected to a server, especially through an internet connection, to use a particular product. The practice is also referred to as persistent online authentication. The technique is meant to prevent copyright infringement of software. Like other DRM methods, always-on DRM has proven controversial, mainly because it has failed to stop pirates from illegally using the product, while causing severe inconvenience to people who bought the product legally due to the single point of failure it inherently introduces.

<i>Rage 2</i> First-person shooter video game

Rage 2 is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Avalanche Studios in conjunction with id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is the sequel to the 2011 game Rage. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on May 14, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its combat but criticism for its story, characters, and open world gameplay.

3DM was a Chinese video game piracy group – a group of individuals specialized in cracking the digital rights management (DRM) applied to commercial PC video games. It was "one of the world's biggest" such groups in and around 2016, according to Kotaku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mat Dickie</span> English indie video game developer

Mat Dickie, professionally known as MDickie, is an English independent video game developer and author. He is best known for his indie professional wrestling games, such as Wrestling Revolution for iOS and Android devices, which received over 100,000 downloads two months after its launch in 2012. The game later went on to surpass 10 million downloads and its sequel, Wrestling Revolution 3D, went on to compete with WWE 2K games on the mobile and PC market.

<i>2Dark</i> Stealth adventure horror game

2Dark is a stealth adventure horror game directed by Frédérick Raynal, known for developing Alone in the Dark.

<i>Doom Eternal</i> 2020 video game

Doom Eternal is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The sequel to Doom (2016), and the seventh game in the Doom series, it was released for PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One on March 20, 2020, with a port for Nintendo Switch released on December 8, 2020, and versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S released on June 29, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuzu (emulator)</span> Discontinued Nintendo Switch emulator

Yuzu is a discontinued free and open-source emulator of the Nintendo Switch, developed in C++. Yuzu was announced to be in development on January 14, 2018, 10 months after the release of the Nintendo Switch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steam Deck</span> Handheld gaming computer by Valve

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer developed by Valve and released on February 25, 2022. The device uses Valve's Linux distribution SteamOS, which incorporates the namesake Steam storefront. SteamOS uses Valve's Proton compatibility layer, allowing users to run Windows applications and games. In addition to handheld use, the Steam Deck can be connected to a TV or monitor through a docking station and be used like a desktop computer or home video game console. In desktop mode, users can install third-party applications for Linux.

Emulators of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo's current eighth-generation video game console, have been in development since 2017, less than a year after the console's release. Multiple emulators have been in development, the most well-known being the now-defunct Yuzu, and Ryujinx. Switch emulators have been widely noted by video games journalists for the swift and significant progress of their abilities to accurately emulate the console, as they are already able to run existing and new titles for the console in a playable state, sometimes within days of their release, as well as able to run on a variety of devices, including PCs running Microsoft Windows and Linux, and the Steam Deck.

Empress is a video game cracker who specializes in breaking anti-piracy software. While the identity of Empress is unknown, she refers to herself as a woman and Russian. Empress has also released cracked games under the moniker C000005.

References

  1. 1 2 Dietrich, Martin (2 August 2017). "Kopierschutz im Faktencheck – Wie schlimm ist Denuvo wirklich?" [Fact-checking Copy Protection – How Bad Is Denuvo Really?]. GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Purchese, Robert (19 December 2014). "Don't call it DRM: what's Denuvo Anti-Tamper?". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Haydn (23 January 2018). "Irdeto acquires Denuvo in bid to beef up security for the games industry". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Haydn (29 August 2018). "Denuvo: "There is no uncrackable game. What we do is protect the initial sales"". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Parkin, Simon (27 April 2016). "Can 'hard to crack' Denuvo win the cat-and-mouse game of PC piracy?". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  6. 1 2 Iwaniuk, Phil (10 February 2016). "We speak to Denuvo, whose Anti-Tamper Tech may have left piracy dead in the water". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  7. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (6 January 2016). "Pirates Worried That PC Games Are Becoming Too Hard To Crack". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  8. ↑ Orland, Kyle (7 January 2016). "Major piracy group warns games may be crack-proof in two years". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Good, Owen S. (9 January 2016). "Piracy group nearly gives up on cracking Just Cause 3, warns of bleak future". Polygon . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. ↑ Orland, Kyle (9 February 2016). "Game cracking group takes a year off as a "genuine sales" experiment". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  11. ↑ Purchese, Robert (8 January 2016). "Finally, tide turns in war with PC game crackers". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  12. ↑ Orland, Kyle (19 October 2017). "Denuvo's DRM now being cracked within hours of release". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Boudreau, Ian (4 February 2018). "Pirates claim to have finally cracked Assassin's Creed Origins". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  14. 1 2 Orland, Kyle (12 November 2018). "Hitman 2's Denuvo DRM cracked days before the game's release". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  15. ↑ Fenlon, Wes (15 May 2019). "Denuvo DRM cracks seem to be happening faster and faster". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Jones, Ali (16 May 2019). "Rage 2 devs "saw a few requests" to remove Denuvo, so they did". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  17. ↑ Grayson, Nathan (17 May 2019). "Rage 2 Drops Denuvo DRM In Record Time". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  18. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (22 March 2019). "Do vu no? Denuvo making Anti-Cheat". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  19. ↑ Blaukovitsch, Reinhard (14 May 2020). "Denuvo Anti-Cheat goes LIVE! A message to DOOM Eternal fans and gamers". Irdeto. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Lee, Julia (20 May 2020). "id Software will remove Denuvo anti-cheat from PC version of Doom Eternal". Polygon . Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  21. ↑ Shepard, Kenneth (25 August 2022). "Denuvo Launching Switch Emulator Protection at Behest of Publishing Partners". Fanbyte. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  22. ↑ Hagues, Alana (24 August 2022). "New Denuvo 'Switch Emulator Protection' Tech Launches, And Players Are Worried". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  23. ↑ Gach, Ethan (24 August 2022). "Notorious DRM Company Takes Aim At Switch Piracy [Update]". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  24. ↑ Doolan, Liam (26 August 2022). "Nintendo Is Apparently Not Involved In The New Switch DRM Initiative". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  25. ↑ Scullion, Chris (23 August 2023). "Denuvo security is now on Switch, including new tech to block PC Switch emulation". Video Games Chronicle . Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  26. ↑ Frank, Allegra (12 October 2017). "It took just 24 hours to crack Shadow of War's DRM". Polygon . Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  27. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (22 February 2021). "The Woman Bulldozing Video Games' Toughest DRM". Wired . Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  28. ↑ Lemon, Marshall (4 September 2018). "Two Point Hospital no longer uses Denuvo DRM". VG247 . Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  29. ↑ Vazquez, Suriel (15 April 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 18 May 2019.
  30. ↑ Leri, Michael (20 July 2018). "Sonic Mania Plus DRM Protection Slowing Down Legitimate Copies". GameRevolution . Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  31. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (26 December 2018). "Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  32. ↑ Hruska, Joel (26 December 2018). "Denuvo Really Does Cripple PC Gaming Performance". ExtremeTech . Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  33. ↑ Ivan, Tom (14 July 2021). "A version of Resident Evil Village which reportedly removes DRM runs better, analysis shows". Video Games Chronicle . Archived from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  34. 1 2 Cito, Arne (26 July 2018). "Denuvo files lawsuit against DRM Hacker "Voksi"". GameZone. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  35. ↑ Taylor, Mollie (8 November 2021). "A great day for DRM as Denuvo lapse renders tons of games temporarily unplayable". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  36. ↑ Archer, James (9 November 2021). "Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs aren't playing nice with DRM in some games". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  37. ↑ Blaukovitsch, Reinhard (12 January 2022). "Alder Lake's incompatibility issue fixed". Irdeto. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.