In a Steam update released today (June 21), PlatinumGames has removed Denuvo Anti-Tamper software from Nier: Automata.
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Fans on Reddit first spotted the change through SteamDB, a website that tracks updates and changes to Steam games.
The changelog attached to the update states that it has “Removed 3rd-party DRM – Denuvo Anti-Tamper” from Nier: Automata earlier this morning.
Denuvo Anti-Tamper is a controversial topic for PC gamers. Denuvo is designed to delay games being cracked and pirated, however the software reportedly comes with various drawbacks for gamers who have paid for legitimate copies of the game.
These downsides include requiring players to have a stable internet connection to play Denuvo-utilizing games, even in entirely single-player games like Nier: Automata where an internet connection would otherwise be unnecessary.
Players also report that Denuvo Anti-Tamper causes games to run worse on PC. When investigated by Extreme Tech, reporter Joel Hruska claimed that Denuvo “really does cripple PC gaming performance.”
The decision to remove Denuvo Anti-Tamper from Nier: Automata follows a string of similar decisions from other studios.
Earlier in the month, Denuvo was patched out of Monster Hunter: World. Less than a week later, Mass Effect Legendary Edition also received an update that removed Denuvo from game files – which reduced the overall game size by around 1GB.
Elmar Fischer, sales director at Denuvo, has previously stated that keeping games from being cracked forever – even with Denuvo Anti-Tamper – “just doesn’t happen in the games industry.”
In other news, a cosmetic skin in Rainbow Six Siege is reportedly making players incredibly hard to see – though developers at Ubisoft are already planning to address cosmetic visibility issues in their 5v5 shooter.
The post ‘Nier: Automata’ update removes Denuvo Anti-Tamper software appeared first on NME.
