The first-person shooter Payday 3 is set to hit stores on September 21, with Early Access opening on September 18. Steam’s storefront revealed that the game will feature Denuvo, which is an anti-tampering software meant to curb piracy. This caused some upset among fans, as the software has a bad reputation.
Players won’t have to worry about it anymore, as developers have confirmed that Payday 3 no longer has Denuvo. No explanation is given for the sudden change, though nobody’s complaining.
The Denuvo Dilemma
Developers use Denuvo to limit piracy. With Denuvo, cracking the game and redistributing it becomes harder. This is important during a game’s launch period where it will make a good percentage of its total sales. Eventually, pirates tend to crack a game, but the idea is that by delaying this, developers can maximize sales while interest is high.
The anti-tamper software usually isn’t well-received by players, as it has been blamed for the poor performance of some games, including Tekken 7 on PC. Denuvo has denied these claims, though there are other reasons why the software is loathed. It can also leave some games unplayable, which happened in 2021 when domain issues left games such as Guardians of the Galaxy unable to launch.
With Denuvo removed, Payday 3 looks geared for a successful release. It currently sits at number 3 on Steam’s top 100 chart, sitting behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
