Forspoken Will Include Controversial Denuvo DRM

It has been confirmed that Square Enix's upcoming Forspoken will use Denuvo, the controversial anti-tamper technology. This likely won't come as a surprise to many since the oft-maligned DRM software has been used for just about every game Square Enix has released in recent history, but it might be enough reason for those who are vehemently opposed to its presence to think twice about picking up Forspoken.

Denuvo started appearing on games back in 2014, with FIFA 15 being the first title to feature the technology, and it wasn't long before the software was embroiled in controversy thanks to the negative impact it has had on performance for many games. In some cases, it even made a whole raft of games unplayable, as those who upgraded early to Intel's Alder Lake CPUs found out.

Denuvo for Forspoken has been confirmed via the game's Steam page. Square Enix has often used Denuvo to protect its games in the past, which means it is likely that versions of Forspoken bought from other storefronts on PC will also bear the divisive DRM software. However, there has been no indication that it will be included on storefronts besides Steam.

Denuvo is intended to curb piracy and modification of the software that it is included with, which is a noble endeavor that the vast majority of gamers understand. The rub comes in when this type of software starts becoming invasive and causes performance issues. There have been some instances where the software is removed after a spell, causing games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider to run better in its absence.

DRM software like Denuvo is considered a problem in the gaming community for a variety of reasons. Chief among these is that it uses kernel-level access, meaning that Denuvo has access to a user's system and could potentially access any information on the system, which makes this type of software highly invasive. It is seemingly common these days with the likes of the upcoming Resident Evil 4 sporting the divisive DRM. Many gamers argue that software such as Denuvo takes things too far - especially when it starts impacting performance and digging into the deepest levels of one's system.

Denuvo is a popular DRM software among some top developers like Square Enix - such companies understandably want to protect their software since they can incur a massive loss of revenue from those who would rather resort to illicit means of acquiring the latest and greatest new games. The presence of such software and its impact on the performance of modern games like Forspoken will continue to be a contentious subject in the light that it has a tangible effect on the experience of those who acquire the games legitimately.

Forspoken will release on January 24 for PC and PlayStation 5.