this post was submitted on 15 May 2025

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Denuvo will lock you out of games on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck if you keep changing Proton versions (www.gamingonlinux.com)

submitted 1 week ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.world

119 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Denuvo strikes again!

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[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 56 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Honestly, Denuvo makes me want to sail the high seas. When I browse Steam and see Denuvo, I mentally write off the game, saying "Might buy this in a couple of years if they fix this shit." If the company fails to do so, the game becomes valid to pirate, far as I am personally concerned.

I am not paying money to be rootkitted.

[–] TBi@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Sometimes i pirate games I’ve bought so I don’t have to deal with this nonsense. Like titanfall.

[–] gradual@lemmings.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Honestly, I've been pirating games that I own on Steam for awhile now.

It's so fucking annoying to launch a game on Steam, only to have to sit through some update that didn't get triggered for some stupid reason.

[–] TBi@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

I know it’s not steam but by god Minecraft Bedrock drives me mad. Everytime I try to play it needs to update. And if you don’t update you can’t play online…

(I know Java exists, but it doesn’t let me easily play with a switch player)

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

The stupid part is it doesnt even work. Denuvo games are cracked just like any other. Pretty sure Hogwarts legacy was cracked day 1 as a fuck you to jk Rowling.

[–] theblackpaul@lemmings.world 5 points 6 days ago

Hogwarts Legacy was literally the last Denuvo game to get a crack. Otherwise you just wait until the denuvo license expires, then get it.

[–] SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 4 points 6 days ago

Denuvo cracks are extremely rare though. Gone are the glory days of CPY and Empress.

[–] Abnorc@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

Right? In the past we got software for free when we let companies use our data. Now they want to take our money too.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yeah I don't remember the last time I pirated a game but Denuvo just gives me an ick and I'd rather not.

[–] nintendiator@feddit.cl 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

“Might buy this in a couple of years if they fix this shit.”

Why wait? Pirate today.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Because Denuvo games take a long time to crack, and only a few people can do it reliably? There are games released as far back as 2018 that still haven’t been cracked.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

High profile denuvo games are cracked pretty quickly, from my experience.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 2 points 6 days ago

Because early Denuvo cracks tend to not work correctly, and often require you to do stupid shit like set your OS's year to 2015 or something like that just for the game to boot.

I rather just wait a year or two for either a proper crack, or for the developer to decide to remove the DRM themselves, a la Capcom. Especially it's a single player game, cause there's no need to worry about the player population dying down by the time a crack comes out. And you also get to reap the benefits of having bugfixes available since the game has been out for awhile.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 19 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Steam deck is a thing now.

Whine at the developer and Valve. They will whine at Denuvo. Chances are it's something Denuvo haven't checked for and can fix quite easily.

Especially on a "Steam Deck Verified" game.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I actually doubt it’s an easy fix. The issue is that each version of proton looks like a different machine. So when Denuvo only allows you to boot on [x] machines in [y] days, it’s easy to get locked out of a game simply because it looks like you booted it on a bunch of different machines.

Some of the game streaming services have this same issue. Nvidia has that thing where you can boot it on Nvidia’s servers, then stream it. But the issue is that when you boot it, you don’t get the same server each time. So if you’re playing a game that is prone to crashing, you can easily eat through your [x] machines count quickly. Not because you were playing it on different machines, but because it was booted on a different server each time you launched it.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 3 points 6 days ago

I would have thought it would be a client side patch rather than server side, but surely it's a case of taking whatever Proton is changing out of the machine "fingerprint" when generating it on a Steam Deck. There's plenty of other things they can use to identify a machine.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 159 points 1 week ago (27 children)

That would certainly make me request a refund and just pirate the game.

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[–] dinckelman@lemmy.world 113 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It's always the paying customers, who get absolutely shafted. Wouldn't be any other way, in modern society

[–] DigDoug@lemmy.world 59 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Pirates never had Sony install a rootkit on their computer. Paying customers did, though.

[–] gradual@lemmings.world 2 points 3 days ago

Pirate here, can confirm.

Playing the new God of War was great on Linux, though.

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[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 99 points 1 week ago (16 children)

Just ignore all games that have Denuvo. It's actually working I don't see much good games with denuvo lately.

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[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 68 points 1 week ago (4 children)

This problem is solved by not giving money to devs who use denuvo. If you gotta resort to malware to sell your game, it’s not worth playing.

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[–] ogeist@lemmy.world 58 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Remember kids, complain to the publisher and developer. They are the ones paying for Denuvo and you are the ones paying for the game.

[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If you are paying for a game with Denuvo then you are paying for Denuvo. Don't buy games with invasive software in them you don't want invasive software 🤷‍♀️ Sure, complain to the developer and the publisher, but you give them the money to waste on Denuvo if you buy the game

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[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 47 points 1 week ago (6 children)

nice, I have some games that use denuvo in my wishlist: I'll make sure to kick them from there.

and for anyone wondering, this profile seems to track games using it:

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26095454-Denuvo-Games/

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