Why the Denuvo anti-piracy protection is so succesful

Posted on Thursday, February 11 2016 @ 13:46 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
PCGamesN has taken a look at why the Denuvo Anti-Tamper Tech is so successful.

One of the interesting things is that the Austrian firm doesn't claim that its technology is uncrackable, they position is as "hard to crack". This somewhat reduces the pressure, as there's a lot more honour to be earned by cracking a supposedly "uncrackable" anti-piracy protection than one that is marketed as hard to crack.

Furthermore, the technology is pretty much invisible to legitimate buyers and doesn't seem to get people riled up as much as older DRM technology like SecuROM. Funnily enough, it's basically the same team that developed SecuROM, but it seems they definitely learned from their mistakes:
The question is: what are Denuvo doing differently? How are they succeeding where previous anti-piracy measures have failed.

"We see three major differences," Goebl tells me. "Our solution is very secure, has no extra hurdles for the paying consumer, no negative impact on the in-game performance [or] experience, and is easy to apply by the development studios."

That statement's especially interesting, because it implicitly references the issues many vocalised - sometimes in the courtroom - about SecuROM. And in turn, that's interesting because Denuvo and SecuROM are one and the same.
A previous generation of the Denuvo technology was circumvented by Chinese cracking group 3DM, but the new technology employed by Just Cause 3 is still uncracked - despite the game being out since November 30, 2015. Even though 3DM seems to have given up, it's likely that another group will pick up the torch, but that's not really the point here.

The lead time between the official launch of a video game and the "pirate availability" is getting so long that it's no longer worth it to pirate the game. Game sales are strongest in the first couple of weeks after launch, and Denuvo is doing an amazing job at keeping games piracy-free during these crucial weeks.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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