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Denuvo, the infamous company on which game developers rely on to implement DRM to almost every new release nowadays, to varying degrees of performance issues and even worse user experiences, has announced today that their protection technologies are now available and accessible as an authorized Nintendo Switch "middleware" in the Nintendo Developer Portal (NDP).

This means that now developers working on Nintendo Switch titles or ports now have the accessibility and option to add Denuvo's anti-piracy protection, which they titled "Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection". Their goal is to disallow any new game release from running in Nintendo Switch emulators, although this remains yet to be seen and properly tested from the end-user perspective. It is currently unknown how they would check between an emulator and real-hardware, but we can be sure that the current emulator developers (be it Yuzu or Ryujinx) will catch unto it and go into details about it when they find a game that uses it.

Denuvo released a following statement regarding Nintendo Switch games that are released as multi-platform and their emulation on day one in comparison with other consoles/PC:

Even if a game is protected against piracy on its PC version, the version released on Nintendo Switch can be emulated from day one and played on PC, therefore bypassing the strong protections offered on the PC version. This can happen with any of the numerous games available on Nintendo Switch.

By blocking unauthorized emulations on PC, studios are able to increase their revenue during the game launch window, which is the most important period for monetization. The Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection will ensure that anyone wishing to play the game has to buy a legitimate copy.

Alongside this statement, Denuvo claims that "the technology integrates seamlessly into the build toolchain with no impact on the gaming experience", but given almost every release that uses it and comparisons in performance between before and after the removal of Denuvo's DRM from known games, it's doubtful that this will be the case. To close it up, the CEO of Irdeto, Doug Lowther, said the following:

As gamers, we know first-hand how piracy negatively affects the gaming industry. We’re thrilled to be part of the Nintendo Developers Portal, so that we can provide the latest technologies to help fight this issue for Nintendo Switch players and developers.

We witness an increasing need to protect against emulation on PC from game launch, our solution is a must have for publishers to monetize the games fairly on this platform and also not impact PC game sales.

Additionally, it remains to be seen just how this would affect gamer that don't connect their Nintendo Switch to the internet, or only use it for handheld gaming with no internet connection, given how the DRM is known to do its checks with a connection to the internet, as having a hybrid console this means that the system wouldn't always have an internet connection available.

Source

 

[Hassal]

Also the CFW switches will be affected by the Denuvo DRM?

I don't know which methods they would use to prevent emulation on other hardware but my guess they want to cripple the performance of the games when ran on non-switch hardware?

On Switch itself I doubt there's any method of protection that exist or can be developed other than phoning home the same way denuvo does on PC. I'd imagine a lot of people even those fanboys will be pissed when they realize they cannot play their games anymore until they authenticate online.

 

[17hitcombooo]

damn that's embarrassing, i want to have my switch library to tank beyond 15 fps, thats crazy

 

[Herculeex]

Denuvo is the stinkiest product idea I have ever interacted with. Who can proudly call their product "middleware"

 

[krakenx]

They should just let people play the 30fps barely 720p Switch versions on Yuzu as a demo of sorts. I played Sonic Frontiers on both PC and Yuzu and even with all the enhancements in Yuzu, it's not even close to the same experience as PC native.

 

[HalfScoper]

Don't mind me, just sharing my popcorn with the rest that watches the kids lose their shit.

My favorite BS so far: https://gbatemp.net/threads/denuvos...intendo-developer-portal.638476/post-10231126

 

[captain_obvious]

While I don't like it there are so many games in my gaming backlog already, any game I want to play which has it will already be cracked by the time I get around to it.

 

[Kioku]

If this really becomes the "standard" I will not own an unmodded Nintendo console ever again..

 

[Hayato213]

While I don't like it there are so many games in my gaming backlog already, any game I want to play which has it will already be cracked by the time I get around to it.

Well you better get playing then.

 

[Explosive_K]

As someone who buys Switch games pretty much every week and also emulates them (perfectly legal btw) I will now be checking which games have Denuvo, just so I know which ones to avoid

 

[lolcatzuru]

I dont see this being implemented on many games if any at all. I guess one silver lining with it is that more people will start cracking denuvo so that we don't have to rely on Empress considering she's a bit mental.

well her mental state shouldnt matter even remotely but i get the base point.

 

[HalfScoper]

I dont see this being implemented on many games if any at all. I guess one silver lining with it is that more people will start cracking denuvo so that we don't have to rely on Empress considering she's a bit mental.

*he is
*a bit completely deluded and deranged

There are also others that are able to but dont make it as public, they dont need the attention EMPRESS VOKSI needs.
+ the fact that almost every of his releases need an external tool like Goldbergs or Nermitingas emus and that he after all never cracks Denuvo, "just" makes it so the DRM isn't able to properly do it's job, it's still in place though and that's why he claims the DRM is at fault for issues with his "crack" (more a bypass).

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

IMO It's not the Switch we have to worry about, it's basically end of life at this point and I doubt Nintendo will use it on their own titles, which is really the only company that matters now given they're the only ones really with big exclusive titles launching in the near future.


The real issue is if they push this to the New Super Switchi U XL or whatever the fuck Nintendo calls their next console. We won't have the same knowledge and understanding that we have for the Switch, it'll be much more difficult to work around/remove when we won't have CFW to leverage.

 

[zoogie]

This is going to make me nostalgic for the "AP patch" days of the DS whenever new "releases" would come out, I just know it.

The struggle is the fun, guys

 

[Viri]

For some reason Sonic Mania still has Denuvo, despite it being cracked years ago. Deus EX HR also still has Denuvo on the Steam version but not the GOG version(I own the GOG version).

 

[tech3475]

For some reason Sonic Mania still has Denuvo, despite it being cracked years ago. Deus EX HR also still has Denuvo on the Steam version but not the GOG version(I own the GOG version).

It looks like neither has it anymore on Steam, they don't mention it on their respective store pages.

 

[Viri]

It looks like neither has it anymore on Steam, they don't mention it on their respective store pages.

Oh whoops, not Deus Ex HR, I meant Mankind Divided. I often get those two abbreviations mixed up. lol

 

[EthanB]

*he is
*a bit completely deluded and deranged

There are also others that are able to but dont make it as public, they dont need the attention EMPRESS VOKSI needs.
+ the fact that almost every of his releases need an external tool like Goldbergs or Nermitingas emus and that he after all never cracks Denuvo, "just" makes it so the DRM isn't able to properly do it's job, it's still in place though and that's why he claims the DRM is at fault for issues with his "crack" (more a bypass).

I had heard Empress was a dude, I try to keep clear of whoever they are because they creep me out something chronic. I tend to use repacks so I don't have to compile it all myself though I know Empress is responsible for pretty much getting all of the games working in the first place.

 

[osaka35]

hmmm...does adding the extra "lock" of drm mean emulators could be in trouble if they "pick the lock"?

 

[Lazyt]

I dont see this being implemented on many games if any at all. I guess one silver lining with it is that more people will start cracking denuvo so that we don't have to rely on Empress considering she's a bit mental.

Wow lady gaga fan

 

[Latiodile]

For some reason Sonic Mania still has Denuvo, despite it being cracked years ago. Deus EX HR also still has Denuvo on the Steam version but not the GOG version(I own the GOG version).

sonic mania doesn't have denuvo, games with denuvo typically have an insanely bloated EXE in the hundreds of megabytes, the sonic mania exe is only 3mb

for example, monster hunter rise has a 465mb exe, world had a similar sized exe, and when they removed denuvo it went down to 84mb