Denuvo claims that there is no uncrackable game, and that their goal is to preserve initial sales
As always, DRM continues to be a controversial subject in the realm of PC gaming. We recently saw GOG take a rather vocal stance against competitors that use DRM. Denuvo, the largest source of ire in regards to the situation, had an interview with media site gamesindustry.biz at this year's Gamescom. Elmar Fischer, the sales director at Denuvo made some statements, reflecting on the past issues that the company had in 2017, and admitting that there's really no "uncrackable" PC game in the industry, as there will always be people there to crack the DRM of games.
According to the interview, the main goal of implementing Denuvo is to secure launch sales for a given title. Even if only a small percentage of those who pirate the game would have purchased it if it wasn't cracked, Fischer says it's still worth it, in terms of sale revenue. Lucas Catranis, director of piracy management at Iredeto, Denuvo's parent company, says it's difficult to gauge how many people actually buy the games when there's no other option, as he monitors r/crackwatch to keep updated on the pirate situation.
Our goal, and it's still the goal, is to protect initial sales. Of course we would like to have it uncracked forever, but that just doesn't happen in the games industry.
It's a really tough one for us to answer straight," says Fischer. "For the games we protect, I think we have a huge impact, especially if we secure the initial sales window then we see a dramatic on the game and also the revenue when you compare it to other games that have been cracked immediately, but for the industry as a whole, it's very tough to answer.
Denuvo's effect on the industry has seen AAA games take far longer to crack as opposed to games with little to no anti-piracy protection. This isn't always the case, however, with some games like Resident Evil 7, and Final Fantasy XV being cracked near instantly after release. A positive effect could be argued for more niche games that lasted longer against cracks and managing to sell well, like Nier: Automata and Injustice 2.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz