Denuvo's impact on gaming performance has been spoken of immensely - as always has been the case for any and all DRM solution that finds its way into games. However, evidence always seemed to be somewhat anecdotal on whether or not Denuvo really impacted performance - for a while, the inability to test games with Denuvo implemented and officially removed (which, unsurprisingly, isn't the same as it being cracked) was a grand stopgap to any sort of serious testing.

Now, courtesy of Overlord's YouTube channel, we can see whether or not Denuvo impacts performance. In a total of seven games tested on a platform with an Intel Core i7 2600K stock CPU (for adequate testing of whether Denuvo really impacts more the CPU than any other system component) paired with a stock clocked 1080 ti. You really should take a look at the video; it's a short, informative one, but the gist of is this: Some games revealed performance improvements with Denuvo being removed: Mass Effect: Andromeda saw a huge boost from an average of 57 FPS all the way to 64 FPS due to the removal of the DRM solution; and Mad Max saw a more meager 54 to 60 FPS increase. The other games (which included Hitman, Abzu, and others, didn't see any performance difference.

What do you do when your main product keeps being bypassed in the eternal cat and mouse game of DRM versus piracy groups? If you're with Denuvo, you think "outside the box" and look for slightly different ways to eliminate the competition, such as actual legal action.

Following this legal action and a collaboration with Bulgaria's police, the justice system has managed to identify Aka Voksi as the founder of scene group "Revolt", seizing his personal computer - events that resulted in Voksi stating he would be dropping all piracy-related activities immediately and for the future (a wise move considering the circumstances). Reddit and piracy-focused websites have already begun fundraising efforts to prepare for Voksi's defense.

Capcom's Monster Hunter World is the fastest selling game in the publishers' history, and now, finally, PC gamers are on the verge of being able to play the critic and player-praised title. The release date, set at August 9th, will make sure PC gamers have a high-profile release to keep them going through the Summer. We'll see if the delay in launch (the game has been available in consoles since January) translates to good performance and optimization - but it does seem so from the available graphics settings, which include TAA for anti-aliasing, subsurface scattering, foliage sway, and most importantly, resolution scaling that helps achieve a more fluid game experience.

Released worldwide on March 26, the PC version of Far Cry 5 has been cracked 19 days after its launch. Nevertheless, the Denuvo 5.0 protection served its purpose as the game sold nearly five million copies in its first week. What's more impressive, though, is that it took prolific warez group CPY less than three weeks to circumvent the game's multiple layers of DRM. Nevertheless, CPY's feat wasn't a complete walk in the park. According to the information provided by the Italian entity, Far Cry 5's cocktail of copy protections included Denuvo 5.0, EasyAntiCheat, uPlay, and VMProtect. Given the speedy release for this one, maybe CPY has finally discovered the secret to Denuvo's formula. Or perhaps Denuvo is starting to lose its touch.

Initial speculations stated that Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition didn't employ Denuvo's anti-tamper technology. For starters, there was no mention of Denuvo anywhere in the EULA when the game went up for pre-order. It also wasn't present in the demo. However, five days prior to the official release, Square Enix updated the game's Steam store page and EULA stating that Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition indeed came with Denuvo.

Although Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition won't be released until tomorrow, consumers who purchased the title can pre-load the game beforehand. Since Steam preloads are always encrypted, warez group normally are forced to look elsewhere. For reasons unknown, Origin made available the unencrypted version of the game files. Chinese video game warez group 3DM was quick to act and got their hands on the unencrypted files. They later replaced the executable with the DRM-free one from the demo. What happened afterwards is history. A few users reported that they were able to advance as far as the ninth chapter without hiccups. According to one particular individual, he finished the game with the pirated copy, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

It was no coincidence that Assassin's Creed Origins was one of the most difficult Ubisoft titles to crack. The company learned from their past mistakes and was one step ahead of the pirates this time. Instead of just implementing the usual Denuvo and Uplay protections like in previous occasions, Ubisoft slapped VMProtect on top of both for good measure. The added security proved to be a great solution as the game remained intact for a little over three months which is a crucial time for sales. However, Ubisoft's triple-threat protection started to crumble when CPY discovered a way to bypass Denuvo 4.8 two weeks ago. The latest news from the Italian scene group confirmed that they've now bypassed Assassin's Creed Origins' last line of defense as well.

Assassin's Creed Origins has been widely criticized for being a CPU hog. Ubisoft claims that VMProtect has little to no perceptible effect on the game's performance. However, many still believe it to be the culprit. Now that the keys to the kingdom are out there, there's little to no point for Ubisoft to keep VMProtect in the game. This would be the perfect opportunity to prove the doubters otherwise. That is, unless they have something to hide.

CI Games finally released the long-awaited multiplayer update for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 last week. Although not mentioned publicly in the patch notes, the Polish publisher also eliminated the Denuvo protection from the game. For those readers who don't keep up with the Warez scene, Russian cracker BALDMAN cracked Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 one month after its release. Many would agree that there wasn't any point in keeping the anti-tamper tech in the game. But now, with it gone completely, DSOGaming re-tested the game to see whether there were any performance gains without Denuvo.

To make a long story short, the DSOGaming team noticed a significant reduction in the game's loading time. However, they weren't completely certain if the reduction was a product of the removal of Denuvo or game optimizations done by the developer. The previous performance issues still haunted the game, and there were zero improvement in graphics performance. This was expected to a certain degree taking into account that Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a GPU intensive title after all. It might be a different story with games like Watch_Dogs 2 or Assassin's Creed Origins, since they are more demanding on the processor. Now, we just have to wait until Ubisoft removes Denuvo from them.

Ever since the company's inception in 2013, Denuvo has been constantly playing a cat-and-mouse game with cracker groups. Italian entity CPY recently bypassed Denuvo 4.8 which was the company's latest DRM protection, or so we thought. Apparently, Denuvo knew that sooner than later their anti-tamper technology was going to fall and had silently prepared an updated version as a countermeasure. Bulgarian programmer Voksi from rival 'Revolt' warez group has dubbed this new version as Denuvo 5.0 instead of 4.9 because it brings many significant changes to the table. As a matter of fact, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite received a silent, retroactive patch not so long ago updating the game to the latest iteration of Denuvo. Future titles like Dragon Ball FighterZ, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, and many more will certainly leave the oven with Denuvo 5.0 onboard.

In other news, digital security expert Irdeto recently acquired Denuvo. Irdeto might not be well-known in the gaming industry, but the firm is by no means a newcomer. With more than 50 years of experience under the company's belt, their highly-acclaimed Irdeto Cloakware cybersecurity technology protects some of the world's best known brands. With this new partnership, both companies aim to create more robust security solutions to combat piracy. It wouldn't be a shocker if future games come with as many as four layers of copy protection (Steam/Origin/Uplay + Denuvo + VMProtect + Cloakware) to fight off pirates. However, more isn't always better when it comes to DRM protections.

Denuvo 4.8 originally debuted last year in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Origins. The French video game publisher even went as far as implementing VMProtect to add an extra layer of protection to the game. Many speculated that Ubisoft's poor decision made the final product so overdemanding on the processor. However, that's a discussion for another day. At the time of its release, Denuvo 4.8 was deemed impossible to break, but let's be realistic here. The impossible just costs a little more. It only took three months for the impossible to happen. Italian warez group CONSPIR4CY (a.k.a CPY) announced in recent days that they've successfully bypassed Denuvo 4.8 used in Sonic Forces.

Besides Ubisoft and Sega, Denuvo has other high-profile customers in the likes of Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, and Lionsgate Entertainment. So, it's only a matter of time before AAA titles like Football Manager 2018, Injustice 2, Need for Speed Payback, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster suffer the same fate as Sonic Forces. Upcoming Dragon Ball FighterZ and Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age are probably in line as well. Although, it will be interesting to see how long can Assassin's Creed: Origins fare before someone breaks the game's double protection.

Denuvo may be one of the most controversial DRM systems out there - even though all of them are, in some level. However, the Austria-based company has developed that which is likely the most successful anti-piracy measure in recent times - despite news of its death. As we covered almost two months ago, piracy scene groups were claiming to have already figured out Denuvo, and hailed their cracking routines as being developing in such a way that (...) Denuvo protected games will continue to get cracked faster and faster." The new methods no longer involve reverse-engineering a game's executable to strip a game of its DRM software; now "[piracy] scene groups have found a way to get past [Denuvo's] encryption and keygen files in just a day. They do not crack Denuvo, they simply keygen it, so Denuvo thinks nothing is wrong on the pirated version."

However, news of Denuvo's death were an exaggeration, it would seem. The company's latest DRM version, launched with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed origins, has eluded circumvention of its protection mechanisms - though in this case, there's an added layer of security, VMProtect, that works in conjunction with Denuvo's solution to make life harder for would-be crackers. Perhaps more telling, then, are the other games that make sole use of Denuvo's tech and still haven't been cracked. Such is the case for Sonic Forces, Injustice 2, Football Manager 2018, Need for Speed Payback and Star Wars Battlefront 2. After all is said and done, it's always just a matter of time before protection mechanisms get bypassed. But Denuvo always has just aimed for a "protection window", anyway, and it seems the company is back to guaranteeing it.

Denuvo's fall from grace - and current thread of obsolescence waters - has been a long time coming for scene crackers and pirates. One of the only anti-tamper mechanisms to actually deter pirates in their cracking efforts as of late, Denuvo ushered in an era of unmitigated success upon the first months after its launch, by any measure. Marketed as a "best in class" solution, Denuvo's makers were smart enough to know that any kind of protection they made would be eventually surpassed by pirates' efforts - which is why they simply said that Denuvo's mission was to " (...) provide the longest crack-free release window compared to competitors." Looking to guarantee developers and publishers the arguably most important time-frame for new game releases and sales, Denuvo's sales and marketing director Thomas Goebl said that their aim was "to help publishers to secure the initial sales windows of their games, hence delaying piracy."

It's been extensively reported that Denuvo has failed as an effective DRM solution for games, as some of the newer releases such as "Assassin's Creed: Origins," were cracked by pirates less than 48 hours into the market release. For those who bought the game, Denuvo adds its own CPU and memory footprint. In an effort to stem further piracy of "Assassin's Creed: Origins" (because hey, there are limited stocks of pirated copies on the Internet), Ubisoft added an additional DRM layer on top of Denuvo, made by VMProtect. The implementation is so shoddy, that paying customers who didn't spend a fortune on their PC builds (most PC gamers) complain of abnormally high CPU usage, which is in some cases, even reducing performance to unplayable levels.

Ubisoft deployed VMProtect as a concentric DRM layer to Denuvo. Genuine user authentication has to now be performed by two separate pieces of software with their own PIDs, CPU-, and memory-footprints, not to mention user data falling into more hands. Gamers such as this one took to Steam Forums to complain about abnormally high CPU usage, which is traced back to VMProtect. Gamers complain that the game now hits 100% CPU usage, resulting in frame-drops, stuttering, and even unplayable frame-rates. As gaming prophet Gabe Newell once said, the only way to beat piracy is to offer a better service than the pirates. Right now the pirates offer better frame-rates, at an introductory price of $0, while stocks last.

Denuvo has been one of the foremost DRM technologies in recent times. There have been a number of issues around this particular RM technology: unclear terms of service that didn't explain the use of this third party DRM, or reports of inconsistent and even degraded performance on Denuvo-protected games. While some of those points have since been corrected - there's no clear evidence of degraded performance with Denuvo anti-tamper on or off - and games' terms of service have been updated to include references to Denuvo anti-tamper being used, this is one of those technologies that has been more ill-received - kind of like SecuROM, back in the days.

Denuvo, however, has enjoyed some measure of success in the past, in that it has allowed games developers to see their products remain uncracked for longer periods of time that they would with other DRM technologies that are currently employed (like Steam, for instance). Developers and publishers say this allows them to see more fruits from their labor in that at least during that DRM-protected window, would-be pirates will likely make the jump towards a legitimate version of the game, instead of waiting for the DRM protection to be bypassed. Lately, though, its protections are being bypassed almost as fast as Steam's, which has been the case with Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - cracked two days after release. This is a prickly subject that usually neatly divides proponents of either DRM-free games, or those that really don't care, so long as it doesn't tamper with end-user experience. There are success cases for both fields - GOG on the DRM-free side of the fence and Steam on the other, for example - but this is clearly a debate that won't be settled any time soon.