Crimson Desert’s Last-Minute Change In Release Plans Won’t Please Everyone

by

Despite being one of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, excitement for Crimson Desert

Just a week before its release on March 12th, the Steam page for Crimson Desert revealed that the game will use Denuvo, a technology designed to prevent piracy, according to Eurogamer. While not a surprise, the announcement so close to launch has drawn attention to the issue, especially since there’s already been discussion about how well Crimson Desert will perform. Concerns initially focused on performance on standard PlayStation 5 consoles compared to the upcoming PS5 Pro, stemming from a previous lack of gameplay footage. Now, PC players are also worried, as Denuvo is sometimes known to impact game performance.

Crimson Desert Is Adding Denuvo DRM

The fact that Crimson Desert will use Denuvo, a copy protection system, isn’t a big surprise. A small notice on the game’s Steam page simply states it includes Denuvo Anti-tamper technology. However, this has still become a talking point just before the game releases.

Pearl Abyss’s new game, Crimson Desert, is a large-scale open-world adventure that has generated a lot of excitement, drawing comparisons to popular titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3, and Breath of the Wild. While strong anti-piracy measures were expected, the inclusion of Denuvo has raised concerns among players. The game’s lengthy development led to questions about whether it could deliver on its promises, and Pearl Abyss recently released PS5 gameplay footage to assure players it wouldn’t be another troubled launch like Cyberpunk 2077.

Why Do Some Gamers Have An Issue With Denuvo?

Pearl Abyss

Denuvo has a controversial reputation mainly because it’s been shown to slow down games by overworking the processor. It’s currently unclear if this will happen with Crimson Desert – we’ll need to test it. However, PC gamers are concerned that this already demanding game might suffer even further due to this anti-piracy software.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, such as Denuvo, is a constant source of tension in the gaming world. While developers want to protect new games from piracy – especially at launch – adding DRM can sometimes hurt sales by slowing down performance. DRM also makes it difficult to preserve games for the future, both by hindering archiving efforts and preventing access to the original game code.

Despite the strong anticipation for Crimson Desert – currently fourth most wishlisted on Steam – the late reveal that it will include Denuvo anti-tamper technology probably won’t significantly hurt sales. However, players are likely to complain, and it will definitely bring extra attention to the game’s performance. Pearl Abyss addresses one concern about how well the game will run, only to have another one surface just before release.

Read More

2026-03-17 19:40