One of the main motives for purchasing a Nintendo Switch is emulation. Despite the fact that piracy has likely increased sales of the handheld device, Nintendo isn’t too happy about the thought that some individuals are playing Tears of the Kingdom on a Steam Deck, which explains why the company has recently included anti-piracy software to its Developer Portal.
It was revealed exactly one year ago that the cybersecurity firm Irdeto would be working with Nintendo to make its anti-tamper Digital Rights Management (DRM) program Denuvo available for the Switch. The capacity of the middleware, which has primarily been used on PC games, to stop warez groups from cracking games right away after release—during which most game sales are recorded—has made it popular among creators.
FIFA15’s DRM was used for the first time by Electronic Arts, and although Chinese pirate organization 3DM eventually cracked the game, it took a lot longer than normal. However, crackers improved over time and were able to get beyond Denuvo’s security, leading to the release of games like Middle-earth: Shadow of War and FIFA 18 with cracked versions.
Denuvo has received a lot of negative feedback from gamers since its release because of how it affects gaming performance and necessitates an always-online connection. Several gamers and hardware testers, like Overlord Gaming, have demonstrated how Denuvo affects performance (especially frame rates) on games like Dishonored 2 and Lords of the Fallen, despite the corporation vehemently disputing these claims. In reality, the Tekken 7 director attributed performance concerns with the PC version of the game to Denuvo’s DRM.
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Given how powerful PCs are in comparison to the Nintendo Switch, many gamers are expecting a significant decrease in performance. Since the tool’s primary purpose is to prevent play via emulators like Yuzu, it is possible that third-party developers would utilize it more frequently than Nintendo itself. This was hinted to by Irdeto CEO Doug Lowther.
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.