Denuvo will lock you out of games on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck if you keep changing Proton versions

I absolutely hate DRM, but if publishers would actually follow the advice of Irdeto and keep it for only the first couple of months after release I wouldn't have such a huge problem with it. It should be mandated by Irdeto that Denuvo should be removed after a certain period of time.

Game isnt really released till Denuvo is removed.
I'll just wait for the game and its DLC to be in a bundle for cheap then wait for Denuvo to be removed whats the rush?

Part of why I skip on Sega games Im excited for too but they dont always remove Denuvo so I wait for a steep steep discount instead then forget tbe game exists.

They lose an earlier purchase from me and Im sure they dont care so hey I dont care either, dont need to buy the game anytime soon, buh bye.

Plenty of indie boomer shooters to play anyway.

Also Doom Classic still holds up well and I do prefer it over the new Dooms, even as I play it for the epteenth thousandths time.

Try Reelism 2 mod its infinitely fun.

I think the reason for Denuvo's popularity among publishers is really that it's the first ever DRM system that's for all practical purposes undefeated.

Denuovo is regularly cracked anywhere from hours to weeks after a game launches.

@Mountain_Man

This is a common complaint, but as far as I know, it has never been conclusively proven. It's mostly just anecdotal with people seeing bad performance and blaming Denuvo because "This other game without Denuvo works just fine!" which is hardly definitive.

While this is still anecdotal, I heard people complain specifically about performance gains from using versions without denuvo on specific games (be that pirated copies which were able to remove denuvo, or official patches that removed drm altogether). Though, it may also depend on specific game and how it handles data loading from disk?

While this is still anecdotal, I heard people complain specifically about performance gains from using versions without denuvo on specific games

Yeah, pirated copies have been shown to have slightly higher framerates. There was also the Village debacle which caused massive stuttering and fps dips, but Denuvo claimed that it had been implemented incorrectly. Whatever.

I don't boycott Denuvo-encumbered games because of framerates or inconvenience. I boycott those games for two reasons:
1. The money used to buy Denuvo is astronomical and could have gone on Developer salaries, or Q&A work instead.
2. The publisher is treating me, their customer, like a criminal that can't be trusted.

That second point is the main reason. Publishers who choose Denuvo are basically saying "we don't trust our customers". Meanwhile, the people who pirate the game (once it's cracked) HAVE A BETTER EXPERIENCE. When a grey-market item is better than the paid-for experience, you know exactly what the seller thinks of you. You're scum, to them.

And so they're scum, to me.

It seems when you reinstall a prefix from scratch, game drm often consider it a brand new PC so denuvo thinks your using it on multiple PC's.

It's all very backwards way of thinking and quite surprising denuvo still has this problem. I've known about it before and have hit it the issue once in the past.

@Mountain_Man

This is a common complaint, but as far as I know, it has never been conclusively proven. It's mostly just anecdotal with people seeing bad performance and blaming Denuvo because "This other game without Denuvo works just fine!" which is hardly definitive.


While this is still anecdotal, I heard people complain specifically about performance gains from using versions without denuvo on specific games (be that pirated copies which were able to remove denuvo, or official patches that removed drm altogether). Though, it may also depend on specific game and how it handles data loading from disk?

I know the BS Denuvo is spreading, but the latest example that comes to my mind is Jedi Survivor. It was just a terrible stutter fest, totally unplayable, even on high end hardware, before they removed Denuvo.

It's the third game I personnally witness where there is a major performance/experience boost, when Denuvo is removed. They always hide this behind "other updates", but I've not seen such day an night difference, in other update contexts.

1+1=2

Edit: Wrote Jedi Fallen Order... Wrong game.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 16 May 2025 at 5:42 pm UTC

I know the BS Denuvo is spreading, but the latest example that comes to my mind is Jedi Survivor. It was just a terrible stutter test, totally unplayable, even on high end hardware, before they removed Denuvo.

It's the third game I personnally witness where there is a major performance/experience boost, when Denuvo is removed.

The thing is, it is not just a "Denuvo: On/Off" situation. While Denuvo is a complete product, you have to integrate it into your game. How you do that will affect the result. Even if you add a compile option to enable/disable your Deunvo integration (like is commonly done with Debug/Release builds), and you get a performance difference, all you know is that you have a performance difference, but crucially you don't know why.

They always hide this behind "other updates", but I've not seen such day an light difference, in other update contexts.

Releasing something to production is expensive and time consuming (for both developer and user), so you generally don't do it just to try one thing, and instead bunch several things into the new version.

If on the other hand there was a beta version that specifically is just to test Denuvo on/off, then that is a different matter, they are much cheaper to release and can contain just one specific fix.

(edit: for the record, I've not seen any convincing evidence that it actually works and delivers more revenue for the devs, so I don't advocate for denuvo in any context.)


Last edited by Cloversheen on 16 May 2025 at 3:46 pm UTC

Even if you add a compile option to enable/disable your Deunvo integration (like is commonly done with Debug/Release builds), and you get a performance difference, all you know is that you have a performance difference, but crucially you don't know why.

Well, if I compile the game without Denuvo and that's literally the ONLY change made, and I get a performance difference on the same machine used to test, I think it's pretty safe to say that the cause of the discrepancy is indeed related to Denuvo.

Due to the way Denuvo is integrated in the game, what I don't know is if I integrated it in the best possible way and whether or not the performance impact can be lessened by moving some of the integrity checks elsewhere.

At the end of the day, it's pretty ridiculous of some people to claim that Denuvo doesn't impact performance. It executes complex code that without using Denuvo, would not get executed. The performance impact of such systems is always greater than zero. The big question is whether or not it is noticeable enough to be a problem.


Last edited by Kimyrielle on 16 May 2025 at 5:17 pm UTC

Screw Denuvo and all digital rights restrictions (DRM) systems. That said at least it's 24 hours, I've futzed with Proton versions but I don't think 5 in 24 hours. And remember, if Denuvo breaks or they shut down server or something, you paid for this game and it's your right to have a working copy, feel free to go to the high seas for it at that point.