Will the strongest copy guard technology 'Denuvo' have a negative influence on game performance, the result of thorough comparative verification?

In the present age where download sales of game software is commonplace, the game industry is always forced to fight against illegal copying. Digital rights management (DRM) has been introduced as one of the countermeasures, but it was pointed out that this DRM may interfere with the operation of the game and lengthen the reading time. Meanwhile, a movie that shows that " Denuvo " called the strongest DRM actually affects game performance is released.

Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/evidence-continues-to-mount-about-how-bad-denuvo-is-for-pc-gaming-performance/

Denuvo is one of the DRM technologies that appeared in September 2014. Denuvo, which prevents tampering with executable files and binds purchaser's accounts and games tightly, has been introduced in many AAA titles. However, this Denuvo is pointed out that it is required to communicate with check server on a regular basis, and that there is a bad influence on the performance of the introduced game, and it is totally disliked from some game fans.

For example, in May, 2018, Square Enix's masterpiece " FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION " verified what kind of influence the introduction of Denuvo was done by DSOGaming of gaming media It was. According to DSOGaming, the pirate who removed Denuvo had better frame rate and loading time and a clear difference was seen. On the other hand, in PC Gamer's verification , "There was no big difference depending on the presence or absence of Denuvo", and the argument that "Denuvo has a negative impact on game performance" has not been settled.

Meanwhile, the YouTube channel " Overlord Gaming " which analyzes game software and game machines is " Dishonored 2 ", " Barrett Storm " " Moto Racer 4 ", and the performance by Denuvo at the time of release in 2017 We compare the pirated edition that Denuvo was invalidated with the product version for, for example, " RiME " who bought a large bunch of fans from a fan pointed out deterioration was pointed out.

More Denuvo Benchmarks! Performance & Loading Times tested before & after 6 games dropped Denuvo - YouTube


The spec of PC which Overload Gaming uses for comparison is like this.

The left version is the product version with Denuvo, the right is the pirated version which released Denuvo. You can see that FPS (number of frames per second) is higher for pirated version.

It is like this when comparing time per frame. The less time (MS) per frame will be moving as the more slimy, but the product version is 6.35% slower than the pirated version on average, 136.7% at the maximum also the frame speed is falling Clearly.

Dishonored 2 was originally DRM protected by Denuvo, but after that the distributor Bethesda Softworks distributed patches to remove Denuvo.

"Barrett Storm" measures the loading time of the main menu. Then the pirated version is still done with short loading.

The pirate version which obviously removed the mission loading Denuvo is getting faster.

"Moto Racer 4" seems to be particularly affected by Denuvo, and in main menu display time, we found that the product version with Denuvo is about 10 seconds slower than pirated version.

Mission loading is also about 10 seconds apart.

The average time per frame is about 5.5 to 5.6 milliseconds, but since the product version measures 443.07 milliseconds at the maximum, it seems that although it is stable, occasionally the screen gets bigger.

The same result also with "RiME" that Denuvo was loaded and it was greatly unpopular from fans.

Comparing the time taken to start the game of "RiME". Although we measure five times in total, the result that the product version is about 20 to 30 seconds later. The longer the startup of the game is, the more stress the player becomes, so the difference of 20 to 30 seconds is quite big.

It was said that loading and frame rate improvement were seen in those who removed Denuvo in any game, and the result of comparative verification by this Overload Gaming confirmed the argument of opposition Denuvo. However, despite being crackable, the required technical skill is too high Denuvo is still a powerful means to combat piracy, and game companies are strongly choosing "performance or security" in future It can be said that it will be done.