Tyrant Freak: Denuvo respond to Resident Evil 7 being cracked in a week

Resident Evil 7 Why Should We

Update February 1, 2017: Following Resident Evil 7 being cracked in record time – less than a week after release – Denuvo have spoken out about the breach, and what it means for the anti-piracy software. 

Never before have we seen a Denuvo game cracked so quickly. In fact, Chinese pirate group 3DM stopped operating for a while partly because of the anti-tamper solution. Many thought it uncrackable.

Why download games illegally when there are all these free PC games?

In its current state, though, it seems crackers have found a way past Denuvo. So, what are they going to do about it?

“Please note that we always position our Anti-Tamper solution as hard to crack, not as uncrackable,” Denuvo marketing director Thomas Goebl told Eurogamer. “So far only one piracy group has been able to bypass it.

“As always, we continue working to improve our solution to create security updates for upcoming Anti-Tamper versions. We will do the same with the learning from this bypass. It’s correct that the title in question was cracked some days after release. Given the fact that every unprotected title is cracked on the day of release – as well as every update of games – our solution made a difference for this title.”

Those first few days make a huge difference to game sales, so it’s a fair point. However, Capcom might be left with their hands empty in this exchange of goods, as Denuvo say they “do not have any deals in place that offer refunds if a game is cracked within a specific time frame”.

Original Story January 30, 2017: Denuvo has recently been the go-to copy protection for developers concerned with piracy, but the DRM has never been popular with the game buying public. Still, it’s always done its job for developers, with some Denuvo-protected games never being cracked to this day.

The DRM hasn’t been so kind to Capcom, however. Less than a week after release, Resident Evil 7 has been cracked and distributed around the dark corners of the internet.

Because of the speed of it, Denuvo may not be as effective as it once was. If the next big Denuvo-protected game is cracked as fast, I can see developers begin to move away from it.

It’s a big blow to any company invested in anti-tamper tech, but perhaps a new update could patch over the back door. It’s too late for Resident Evil 7, though.

Capcom could decide to remove Denuvo now, since it isn’t making a difference. This could also result in extra sales, as some won’t even purchase a game protected by the tech. Playdead recently removed Denuvo from Inside, so it can be done at the developer’s discretion.

PCGamesN does not condone piracy in any form. This story is only considered newsworthy because of the context, with Denuvo being cracked in such a record time. Links to torrents or pirate sites in the comments could result in an account ban.