Overview
The PC version of Crimson Desert ships with Denuvo anti-tamper software, a digital rights management (DRM) solution developed by Denuvo Software Solutions (a subsidiary of Irdeto). Denuvo encrypts portions of the game executable and performs periodic online checks to verify the user owns a legitimate copy. The inclusion of Denuvo was not announced during the pre-order period. Pearl Abyss quietly added a Denuvo notice to the Steam store page on March 12, 2026, one week before the March 19 launch. The late disclosure triggered significant backlash.
Timeline
Date | Event |
|---|---|
March 12, 2026 | Denuvo listed on Steam store page at 9:05 AM UTC via a quiet update. Players notice within hours. |
March 12-13 | Backlash spreads across Reddit, Steam forums, and social media. A Steam thread titled "DENUVO = preorder instantly aggressively cancelled!!!" collects 65+ comments. A Reddit thread gathers 300+ comments in two hours. |
March 13-14 | Pearl Abyss responds, stating all benchmark videos and performance footage were captured with the same Denuvo build shipping at launch. |
March 19 | Crimson Desert launches on PC with Denuvo active. |
March 20 | Denuvo is bypassed within approximately 24 hours via a hypervisor-based method. |
Community Reaction
Players raised two primary objections. First, Denuvo has a reputation for introducing CPU overhead, increasing load times, and requiring periodic internet checks even in single-player games. Second, many felt that withholding the Denuvo disclosure until a week before launch was deliberately deceptive, as it fell outside the standard refund window for many pre-order buyers.
The Denuvo disclosure contributed to a wave of negative Steam reviews. Within 10 hours of launch, Crimson Desert had a "Mixed" rating with roughly 5,000 negative reviews. The negative review count climbed past 8,000 (over 41% of total ratings) in the days that followed, though the overall rating improved as positive reviews from players praising the combat and open world accumulated.
Pearl Abyss Response
Pearl Abyss addressed the controversy directly. A studio representative stated: "The benchmark videos and performance specs we released were all created with the exact same implementation of Denuvo that is in the launch build. This includes the performance videos by."
The representative emphasized that the experience shown to reviewers and benchmark outlets was "representative of the final consumer's experience." Pearl Abyss did not commit to removing Denuvo at any future date.
Hypervisor Bypass
Within roughly 24 hours of launch, the Denuvo protection was bypassed using a hypervisor-based technique. The same method had previously been used against other Denuvo-protected titles such as Borderlands 4 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
The hypervisor approach is not a traditional crack. Denuvo's code still runs inside the game executable. Instead, a virtualization layer sits underneath the operating system and intercepts Denuvo's server verification checks in real time. Running the bypass requires users to disable Secure Boot, turn off Windows Digital Signature Enforcement, enable CPU virtualization in the BIOS, and grant the bypass tool kernel-level access. These steps expose the system to serious security risks, and some users reported blue-screen crashes on Intel processors.
The speed of the bypass renewed debate over whether Denuvo provides meaningful value to publishers. Critics argued that protection lasting less than a day does not justify the user friction and performance overhead. Supporters countered that even brief protection during the launch window can influence initial sales numbers.
Impact on Offline Play
Crimson Desert requires an internet connection for initial setup and a mandatory Day 1 patch. After setup, offline play is supported. The Denuvo implementation requires periodic re-verification, which means extended offline sessions beyond a certain window (typically several days to a few weeks, depending on the implementation) may trigger a brief internet check. For more details, see the FAQs page.