web_stories_embed url=“https://www.xfire.com/web-stories/square-enix-denuvo-forspoken/" title=“Square Enix is using Denuvo DRM for Forspoken” poster=“https://www.xfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cropped-square-enix-denuvo-forspoken-1-10.jpg" width=“360” height=“600” align=“center”] Denuvo Anti-Tamper is a third-party software developed by the eponymous company, Denuvo, which adds an extra layer of protection to video games against piracy, among other things. On paper, the intention with Denuvo Anti-Tamper is great. It helps preserve the integrity of the video game’s files and it will make it difficult if not impossible for cheaters to modify in-game files. Also, it effectively blocks out all pirating attempts of a game until it’s removed, which most developers do after some time. Unfortunately, while it’s understandable for studios to want to protect their games from piracy, Denuvo Anti-Tamper has a bad reputation among gamers. Specifically, Denuvo has been proven and shown multiple times to have a negative impact on a game’s performance. Even at the expense of potential backlash, many studios continue to use Denuvo Anti-Tamper. As a compromise, most remove the protection after some time, usually when a game has sold enough for the developer to recoup development costs and make a profit. The only problem is that this is Square Enix we’re talking about - a studio known for blasting games such as Outriders and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, among others, for not selling well enough. Thus, it’s only fair to wonder if Square Enix is shooting itself in the foot by using Denuvo Anti-Tamper in a game that will likely take up a considerable amount of resources on the PC. Forspoken already received mixed reviews when Square Enix released a demo for the PlayStation 5 and the latest cinematic trailer is setting it up for failure by selling audiences a massive open-world game that’s been described as mostly empty. To make matters worse, we don’t know when the review embargo for Forspoken lifts, which is a tell-tale sign that Square Enix and Luminous Productions aren’t as confident in the upcoming release as they’d like you to believe. We’re sincerely hoping that we’re wrong because Square Enix could use a big win (and another AAA fantasy RPG franchise) outside of Final Fantasy, but we seriously doubt it. We’ll find out more once Forspoken comes out on the PS5 and the PC on January 24. Speaking of Square Enix, Forspoken isn’t expected to be available on other platforms until 2024. Meanwhile, Naoki Yoshida just had a laugh trolling fans that a PC port of Final Fantasy 16 is never coming.
