author: Bart Swiatek
Denuvo Anti-Cheat Could Become Standard on Steam
Irdeto's anti-cheat solution, Denuvo Anti-Cheat, has been integrated with Steamworks tools, making it easier for developers to use the system in their games.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- Denuvo Anti-Cheat anti-cheat system has been integrated into Steamworks tools, making it easier for the developers to implement;
- Denuvo Anti-Cheat uses a controversial kernel-level driver;
- Some users fear that the technology will be used for inappropriate purposes.
Irdeto, the company responsible for Denuvo Anti-Tamper and Denuvo Anti-Cheat solutions, announced that the latter has been integrated into Steamworks. This means that developers releasing games on Steam will find it much easier to use this technology and protect their titles against cheaters (until now developers interested in Denuvo Anti-Cheat had to implement the system themselves), which will probably have a positive effect on its popularity.
The Denuvo Anti-Cheat system installs a driver at the OS kernel level and monitors interactions between the OS and the game, blocking external applications trying to influence the code of the latter. The solution debuted on the market in May last year. The first title using it was the shooter Doom Eternal created by id Software, but after the controversy it sparked, the system was removed shortly afterwards.
The fight against cheaters is undoubtedly a noble goal - stories of games such as Call of Duty: Warzone show that cheaters can spoil the fun for a large part of the community. However, some of the internet users gathered on Reddit fear that Denuvo Anti-Cheat will be used for other, less noble purposes - e.g. for cracking down trainers or mods in single player games which the developers don't like.
"One thing to keep in mind - this anti cheat might be forced on single player games with micro transactions to stop people from using trainers to bypass them. They're marketing it as multiplayer oriented, because who doesn't hate cheaters in MP? And personally, I'm all for it. Too many games were killed by cheaters over the years. But there's a real possibility that it might affect single player experiences as well. And that's a big "No" in my book. I guess time will tell, though," points out uniqueusername1928.
"Could also be used to crack down on modding in general in the few cases where companies don't like it, like GTA V where iirc they had an entire system to detect if you spawned any MP-only vehicle and instantly destroy it, and it could potentially make game preservation a bit harder down the line as well, depending on how exactly is messes with tampering," writes DancesCloseToTheFire.