If you were planning on tampering with Resident Evil 2, you’re out of my luck my devious friend. Capcom’s latest horror title will use infamous DRM system Denuvo Anti-tamper, in an effort to prevent piracy. The DRM implementation has been confirmed via the game’s STEAM page, which invites players to pre-purchase the title but comes with a clear warning that the game incorporates Denuvo tech.
This third party DRM service protects against the pirating of games and also limits the game’s activation to five different PCs within a day. The latter is unlikely to be a problem for most players, but the way the software protects against piracy has been a point of contention for many.
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The system has been reported to negatively impact the performance of games in certain cases. Katsuhiro Harada, director of Tekken 7 stated earlier this year that it was Denuvo that had caused drastic frame-rate drops in a recent update to the popular fighting game. This, of course, triggered fan outcry. Denuvo has also been said to increase loading times in certain games including Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition.
It’s the type of corporate interference with games that causes a great deal of ire among some fans, who see such practises as anti-consumer. There is already a thread on Resident Evil 2’s Steam Community page begging Capcom not to implement the dreaded system titled ‘Please no Denuvo!’, which includes such insights as “it will be denuvo.. Thats [sic] the only way they can jack the price up higher than the standard launch AAA price.” Blimey.
Problem occurred in “TEKKEN7 for PC”. that the frame rate drops when hits such as Akuma’s “Shakunetsu Hadouken”.
Since it’s not a problem of graphics & CPU processing, it will not solve even if changing PC setting (problem with encryption program).
We’ll fix Soon. Sorry Plz wait.— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) April 13, 2018
Another risk associated with DRM is that a game could be rendered unplayable if the DRM servers are ever shut down. This is what happened with the Mac port of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance just a few weeks ago.
In some cases, the Denuvo tech has been removed several months after the release, what Denuvo terms the ‘initial sales window’. This may seem like an act of goodwill but probably as much to do with the rate at which hackers have managed to crack the security measure as it does with publishers trying to win hearts and minds. Although Denuvo operates an intensive encryption system, hackers have managed to crack games’ protections with relative ease. Tekken 7, for example, was cracked in a record four days after launch. As with Resident Evil 7, hackers are sure to be hot on the case when Resident Evil 2 launches on January 25 2019.