DRM has always been a divisive subject, from the early days of code tables and systems like LensLock to modern system like SecurOM and games that require an always on connection they generally have always managed to punish the paying customer rather than people pirating the software. In 2014 saw the first appearance of Denuvo and since it's launch we have seen reports of games performance suffering as well as reports of extra wear being placed on SSD's due to the way that the DRM operates. It's no secret that to begin with Cracking of Denuvo was slow, with games still being uncracked after months of release, but as time has gone on two veteran groups, CODEX and CPY have gone on to reduce this in to a matter of weeks rather than months.
This week has seen a massive blow to their efforts, thanks to one user ShivShubh of CorePack, who released an unfinished and stolen version of a crack for Need For Speed: Heat. When groups create cracks for games, they need to test them on a broad of a range of PCs as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to usually use a trusted 'Repack' Group, it's then fed back to the crackers on how it performed. After a month and a half of the game's release ShivShubh took it upon himself to released the unfinished crack, which was unreliable and in many cases did not work on many configurations. This has created a big problem for CODEX and any other group dedicated to cracking Denuvo as the techniques and tricks that allowed them to bypass the DRM is unencrypted so Irdeto, the company behind denovo can easily see the techniques used to defeat the DRM and implement further checks to make it ineffective in the future.
CorePack have now closed down all operations and closing the doors on their website for good
We’re tired of apologizing all the time, even for the things that happened long before my time, to which I had no control over. I guess the recent incident with NFS Heat put the final nail in the coffin, so we’ve decided to close the doors forever and say goodbye to everyone.
This isn't the first time in the last couple of years that CorePack have come under fire for subpar repacks as little more than a year ago now it was found that malware had been in redist folder in their repacks.
The real test starts now. With exploits in denovo's code now being closed up, will CODEX and other groups find new ways to take on the juggernaut that is Denuvo or will Denuvo be the PC piracy killer that it touts itself to be.
Fit-Girl, another repacker who discovered the leaked/stolen crack had this to say :
Not only he leaked what had to stay private, but he leaked the unprotected crack. Which is now in hands of Denuvo engineers – and trust me, they are not dumb, they will make all their best to NOT allow those methods to work anymore. So, my dear ShivShubh (who confirmed that he shared that crack with COREPACK TESTERS before releasing the crack to public). You both just made Denuvo stronger. And nobody will tell when CODEX or CPY or anyone else will make their Denuvo cracks again, if ever....
... let’s just hope that anti-Denuvo war will continue after that huge blow. But don’t expect miracles now. Even if it’s a New Year Eve. And yes, even if the crack would be perfect, after I’ve discovered it’s been stolen I would never make a repack based on it. Yep, I’m not a scene, but without those guys repackers are nothing and every single group deserves respect for their efforts.
Source - Crackwatch - Fit-Girl Statement
Source - CorePack Closes
Due to the nature of the 'scene' containing warez I am unable to give out first hand links to a lot of the information
