Denuvo has been cracked

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

The notorious "uncrackable" anti-tamper tech that supposedly has a negative impact on performance has been cracked. It's probably only a matter of days before the games that are using it appear on torrent sites.
http://www.dsogaming.com/news/report-denuvo-drm-system-has-been-cracked/

There were a lot of rumors surrounding this thing. The most important aspect of Denuvo [for me] is the fact that it's from the same people that brought us SecuROM, which fucked with my PC back in 2009 when I bought Arkham Asylum. Which is enough for me to never touch anything these people are involved with. That rumor about Denuvo killing SSD blocks is bullshit though.

What I'm really interested now is the comparison between cracked and uncracked versions of FIFA 15, Lords of The Fallen and Dragon Age: Inquisition. As soon as pirated versions come out someone will make the comparisons. If it turns out that this thing hurts the performance significantly, then that's just unacceptable. In that case they should just get rid of it. It doesn't work, it hurts the legitimate customers and it costs money to even use it. So why bother?
But if it turns out that there is no significant performance impact and any stability impact, I'm on board. Great job. Futile, but great nonetheless. I'll be able to buy DA: Inquisition and future Mass Effect titles. In fact, if it doesn't fuck with performance I'd like to see Valve put it into CS:GO as an anti-hacking measure.

 

[Adultratedhydra]

And there was much rejoicing. The sooner the industry realised DRM hurts more than helps will be a good day.

 

[Mezahmay]

Spoiler: Sorry, went on a tangent I can't bring myself to outright delete

This is something I've spent some time mulling over at work and before I go to sleep. DRM sucks, and as far as I an tell that's pretty much universally accepted by consumers as fact. It's also provably an exercise in futility since people will spend time trying to crack it until it's unlocked, which gives your product a few weeks/months of controlled distribution if it's really good DRM.

However, perhaps that's all the publishers really want since all but the biggest game launches tend to cycle out of public interest within that time and DLC sales drop significantly after this period (not including GOTY editions). However, that still leaves the consumers that actually paid for your game with the crap DRM to continue dealing with the crap DRM long after pirates stopped caring about it. From that point I guess it's either too much work for them to disable the DRM or they assume that because the consumers are still playing/buying their game with the DRM intact that they don't care about it or have accepted it as a norm.

I refuse to believe anyone actually feels positively about DRM since it does little else but inconvenience us more often than not and I feel we as consumers should not that be that obsessed with their bottom line. Odds are we legally purchased their product and that should be the extent of our concern for their bottom line even if it's filtered through the perspective of our personal enjoyment.

Hooray! More DRM cracked! Hopefully this product wasn't affecting the play experience of actual legitimate customers, and may we hope the next one doesn't function worse than this one allegedly does.

 

[Adultratedhydra]

Spoiler: Sorry, went on a tangent I can't bring myself to outright delete

This is something I've spent some time mulling over at work and before I go to sleep. DRM sucks, and as far as I an tell that's pretty much universally accepted by consumers as fact. It's also provably an exercise in futility since people will spend time trying to crack it until it's unlocked, which gives your product a few weeks/months of controlled distribution if it's really good DRM.

However, perhaps that's all the publishers really want since all but the biggest game launches tend to cycle out of public interest within that time and DLC sales drop significantly after this period (not including GOTY editions). However, that still leaves the consumers that actually paid for your game with the crap DRM to continue dealing with the crap DRM long after pirates stopped caring about it. From that point I guess it's either too much work for them to disable the DRM or they assume that because the consumers are still playing/buying their game with the DRM intact that they don't care about it or have accepted it as a norm.

I refuse to believe anyone actually feels positively about DRM since it does little else but inconvenience us more often than not and I feel we as consumers should not that be that obsessed with their bottom line. Odds are we legally purchased their product and that should be the extent of our concern for their bottom line even if it's filtered through the perspective of our personal enjoyment.

Hooray! More DRM cracked! Hopefully this product wasn't affecting the play experience of actual legitimate customers, and may we hope the next one doesn't function worse than this one allegedly does.

I recall most of the Denuvo stuff was overblown. I DO however have an instance where a Starforce DRM game caused my DVD drive to spin up to the point where the DVD within disintegrated and sent shrapnel through the bloody drive.

 

[Mezahmay]

Spoiler: Sorry, went on a tangent I can't bring myself to outright delete

This is something I've spent some time mulling over at work and before I go to sleep. DRM sucks, and as far as I an tell that's pretty much universally accepted by consumers as fact. It's also provably an exercise in futility since people will spend time trying to crack it until it's unlocked, which gives your product a few weeks/months of controlled distribution if it's really good DRM.

However, perhaps that's all the publishers really want since all but the biggest game launches tend to cycle out of public interest within that time and DLC sales drop significantly after this period (not including GOTY editions). However, that still leaves the consumers that actually paid for your game with the crap DRM to continue dealing with the crap DRM long after pirates stopped caring about it. From that point I guess it's either too much work for them to disable the DRM or they assume that because the consumers are still playing/buying their game with the DRM intact that they don't care about it or have accepted it as a norm.

I refuse to believe anyone actually feels positively about DRM since it does little else but inconvenience us more often than not and I feel we as consumers should not that be that obsessed with their bottom line. Odds are we legally purchased their product and that should be the extent of our concern for their bottom line even if it's filtered through the perspective of our personal enjoyment.

Hooray! More DRM cracked! Hopefully this product wasn't affecting the play experience of actual legitimate customers, and may we hope the next one doesn't function worse than this one allegedly does.

I recall most of the Denuvo stuff was overblown. I DO however have an instance where a Starforce DRM game caused my DVD drive to spin up to the point where the DVD within disintegrated and sent shrapnel through the bloody drive.

Yeah I have no doubt that the rumor of causing one's hard drive to process so much data it would cause physical scratching or whatever it was is overblown, but that doesn't mean it did not affect game performance or stability. Guess we won't know with more certainty until the cracked version inevitably comes out in the coming weeks/months. And thank goodness the Starforce DRM is no longer in circulation and hasn't been for some time.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, considering how much time it has allowed for the games to be up for sale without the... er... "competition"? I would say that it's debatable whether the DRM "worked" or not. I don't really think most publishers are actually so naive as to believe that their DRM will forever prevent pirated copies.

Except for Blizzard. GG, Battle.net.

That having been said, I've already got multiple forms of DRM on my laptop, including Origin and Steam. I realize how easy they are to circumvent, but I refuse to purchase games that shove an extra layer into my face on top of that. Sorry, Dragon Age, as much as I want you it's not as much as I want to avoid bogging down my system with useless extra software that's probably only going to end up causing problems for me.

 

[Adultratedhydra]

Well, considering how much time it has allowed for the games to be up for sale without the... er... "competition"? I would say that it's debatable whether the DRM "worked" or not. I don't really think most publishers are actually so naive as to believe that their DRM will forever prevent pirated copies.

Except for Blizzard. GG, Battle.net.

That having been said, I've already got multiple forms of DRM on my laptop, including Origin and Steam. I realize how easy they are to circumvent, but I refuse to purchase games that shove an extra layer into my face on top of that. Sorry, Dragon Age, as much as I want you it's not as much as I want to avoid bogging down my system with useless extra software that's probably only going to end up causing problems for me.

I've always found it funny how people against DRM defend steam. Without realising it has been DRM before DRM was even DRM.

 

[Jiggle Counter]

If my DRM is having to load a game through Steam/Origin/Uplay, then what's the point of having any extra DRM?

 

[Starbird]

As someone who bought DA:I legit - good. I hate DRM on so many levels.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

Steam is a distribution platform. Steam supports DRM, but Steam is not in and of itself DRM.

Duneva is a mostly harmless DRM which got smeared by a whole lot of butthurt and paranoid people. It's fundamentally an anti-tamper system. Removing the normal DRM by altering the .exe is fairly simple. The problem is the game's code is riddled with checks which verify the .exe hasn't been tampered with.

3DM's solution seems to be a loader, which isn't considered a proper crack because it doesn't actually "crack" the DRM so much as awkwardly bypass it.

 

[Hateren47]

I've always found it funny how people against DRM defend steam. Without realising it has been DRM before DRM was even DRM.

It's probably because Steam it self isn't DRM and because you don't understand how Valves take on DRM, CEG [http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/publishingservices.php] or Custom Executable Generation, actually works.

To put it short. You, the customer, get a custom .exe to start your game with. The .exe checks against your login on the Steam client or a Steam server somewhere, whether this unique file matches your login. If it does it's allowed to run and then you can play. nothing more.

That's DRM I can agree with and why I don't mind Steam DRM.

It doesn't install anything extra on your computer, hidden deep in the system slowing the whole machine down with having to decrypt every single line of code before it can run or some other over-the-top (at least for video games) scheme of protection. Or worse, stuff that can possibly "break" your system now or later when the DRM servers shuts down. You know, really shitty DRM. The worst case I have seen is Worms 4: Mayhem(EU ver.) breaking the MBR (leaving your computer without instructions on how to boot) during install. And then rebooting the computer.

Far from every game on Steam use only CEG but that's not Steams fault. They'd lose business for enforcing using only their own DRM. And there are games on Steam with no DRM at all. You can copy the Steam version of the original The binding of Isaac to any computer you want and just play it for instance.

So Steam fanboys like me defend Steam because Valve does DRM right and because your princess is in another castle.

On topic: Good job killing Denuvo, Chinese crackers. I would prefer a clean version, if I had a game that could send my SSD into early retirement.

 

[Adultratedhydra]

-Snip-

I'm well aware of how steam works since i've been using it before HL2 was even a glint in Gabens eye. Steam is still DRM so my Statement stands.

 

[Atmos Duality]

-Snip-

I'm well aware of how steam works since i've been using it before HL2 was even a glint in Gabens eye. Steam is still DRM so my Statement stands.

Yeah. Kinda.

DRM existed well before we even had the term to describe it as such.
Which sounds nonsensical, but the fact is it's always been around in some form or another.

Even something as simple as designing a puzzle to be completed only with help from hints/answers in the instruction book.
(easily bypassed by the mere existence of the internet...appropriate, no?)

The real matter surrounding DRM is consumer tolerance.
How much arm-twisting bullshit will the consumer TOLERATE before they stop buying?

This is exacerbated by the fact that the biggest markets (U.S. especially) heavily favor the producers over the consumer, legally. So basically, companies are capable of including all sorts of questionable things in their DRM packages and EULAs.

 

[Hateren47]

-Snip-

I'm well aware of how steam works since i've been using it before HL2 was even a glint in Gabens eye.

Time doesn't make you an authority on a subject if you think about it. My mother has been driving for 45 years and have nothing but a rudimentary idea how an engine works, for example.

Steam is still DRM so my Statement stands.

Of course your statement still stands. You use the dictionary definition and are technically correct. Steam manages digital rights in some sense, I guess... It tracks who has what and all that and put it on your profile ect.. And you find it funny that people are okay with the way it does it.

I guess we just have different opinions on what DRM has come to imply in casual conversation.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

DRM existed well before we even had the term to describe it as such.
Which sounds nonsensical, but the fact is it's always been around in some form or another.

Copy protection is only a part of what DRM encompasses. DRM covers everything from software installation limits to forced media curation to carrier-locking mobile phones.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Copy protection is only a part of what DRM encompasses. DRM covers everything from software installation limits to forced media curation to carrier-locking mobile phones.

Preaching to the choir on that one.
It's commercial control measures.

 

[Morgoth780]

Here is the thing you people don't seem to understand about DRM and video game sales: Most game sales are made shortly after release.

The DRM doesn't need to protect the game forever, just long enough to prevent piracy from harming the sales as much during the first few release months so that profits can be maximized.

Denuvo has been a great DRM system as it was able to protect FIFA 15 for two months and Lords of the Fallen for one whole month.

It doesn't sound like much, but this DID matter in terms of sales.

I believe I saw a source claiming that both FIFA 15 and Lords of the Fallen sold exactly as expected. That neither suggests that DRM had a major effect. I do have a friend who was planning to buy DA:I until he heard about Denuvo being cracked. So I'm certain it makes a difference, but is it significant enough to really be worth it?

On the topic of piracy, however, I tend to agree with Gabe Newell, in that it's primarily a distribution problem. Also some forms of DRM get an 11/10, Serious Sam 3: BFE and Crysis: Warhead being the two main examples I thought of. Also, ironically, Game Dev Tycoon.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Here is the thing you people don't seem to understand about DRM and video game sales: Most game sales are made shortly after release.

The DRM doesn't need to protect the game forever, just long enough to prevent piracy from harming the sales as much during the first few release months so that profits can be maximized.

Denuvo has been a great DRM system as it was able to protect FIFA 15 for two months and Lords of the Fallen for one whole month.

It doesn't sound like much, but this DID matter in terms of sales.

This would be true if it weren't for the culture of pre-ordering. Pre-orders are an indicator of how well the game is going to sell.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Steam is a distribution platform. Steam supports DRM, but Steam is not in and of itself DRM.

Actually it is, since games purchased through Steam have to be either downloaded or validated (for disc based games) through the platform, that's your DRM. That's even how it was launched, Half Life 2 mostly on the disc, CS:Source and the validation files on Steam.

Of course most other publishers forget that to launch something like Steam you first need a Half Life 2.