MyBroadband
Digital rights management (DRM) company Denuvo will start offering anti-piracy software for Nintendo Switch games emulated on PCs.
Denuvo is part of Irdeto, which has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of MultiChoice since 1997.
In addition to offering DRM software to other companies, MultiChoice uses it to protect its pay-TV broadcasts from pirates.
The company said the “revolutionary technology” called Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection would ensure that anyone wishing to play a game from the platform has a genuine copy.
“As with all other Denuvo solutions, the technology integrates seamlessly into the build toolchain with no impact on the gaming experience,” Irdeto stated.
“It then allows for the insertion of checks into the code, which blocks gameplay on emulators.”
Notably, the announcement does not make mention of any official partnership with Nintendo, so it probably won’t be included in future games by default.
Instead, Denuvo will likely aim to sell the software to third-party developers making games for the Switch.
The company said by blocking unauthorised emulations on PC, studios would be able to increase their revenue during the game launch window — the most important period when it comes to monetisation.
“Even though it is hard to pinpoint the exact number of players who emulate Switch games on PC, it is easy to find online forums dedicated to emulation and piracy,” Irdeto said.
“The most popular groups have more than one million followers each.”
It is unclear how Denuvo’s software will impact players that own legitimate copies of Nintendo Switch games but want to be able to play them on their PC.
Linus Tech Tips (LTT) recently published a video showing how it managed to emulate Nintendo Switch games on Valve’s Steam Deck, which is effectively a handheld gaming PC.
However, LTT techie Anthony Young claimed the process was “above board, not “immoral” or “unethical”.
“We got the games and keys to decrypt them, fair and square, from our own device,” Young said.
While many in the gaming community acknowledge DRM’s role in protecting the industry and ensuring that developers get their dues, there are concerns over how it is implemented.
Denuvo’s software features thousands of video games but is generally despised by the PC gaming community, which often regards it as overly-intrusive “middleware”.
One issue is that the service relies on its own servers to be available to activate a game.
That means activating a legally-bought game could become difficult if it experiences downtime, an ISP is having connectivity issues, or a government decides to block its IP addresses.
In addition, there are concerns that if Denuvo shut down and its activation servers no longer existed, developers and publishers would not be able to assist customers with authenticating versions of their games that feature the software.
That creates a significant problem for customers who want control over their software licences after purchasing them.
In its early days, the software sometimes failed to recognise legitimate copies of games on startup.
The company also makes anti-cheat software for online multiplayer games.
Few competitive gamers would denounce the value such software adds in dealing with cheaters and ensuring a game provides a fair and fun challenge.
But Denuvo Anti-Cheat is perceived to be a privacy risk due to its ability to access the operating system kernel, effectively enabling it to access all the functions of a system.
Some gamers are concerned it could expose their PCs to hacking if Denuvo’s servers were compromised.
copyright protection Denuvo digital rights management (DRM) emulation Irdeto MultiChoice nintendo switch piracy pirated games
Comments section policy: MyBroadband has a new article comments policy which aims to encourage constructive discussions. To get your comments published, make sure it is civil and adds value to the discussion.
Which mobile network do you use for your primary smartphone?