The controversial anti-piracy DRM (digital rights management) platfor Denuvo is coming to Nintendo Switch, developer Irdeto announced.
Denuvo has been used on a multitude of platforms and games to date, mostly focused on the Windows PC market and its rampant piracy. Its new development arm for Switch, however, is focused on blocking users from emulating their games.
Specifics on how Irdeto will achieve this are scant, however it seems like they’ll offer some kind of way to let developers block users from ripping the contents of Switch cartridges to a PC, which would then let them run the games with an emulator.
As with any Denuvo implementation, this will obviously require the developer(s) to adopt using the software for their releases. Some developers only utilize the DRM for the duration of its launch period – only to remove it later.
While numerous checks and investigations have found the software has actually negatively affected performance of games, Irdeto claims Denuvo on Switch has “no impact on the gaming experience.”
Furthermore, a common complaint for Denuvo is that it has an online check – meaning even if you own games legally you have to go online for them to run. As the Switch is a handheld, this isn’t always an option, so Irdeto confirmed the DRM on Switch will not have online checks.
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