In the end, it appears that Pearl Abyss’ decision to add Denuvo anti-tampering technology to Crimson Desert just days before its highly-anticipated release was for naught.
Because, even with Denuvo, Crimson Desert has been cracked by pirates. However, its ability to be shared by pirates and downloaded at infinitum isn’t as simple as it sounds, at least compared to other cracked video games.
To start, Crimson Desert has been cracked using the Hypervisor method, a new piracy technique that has made the rounds recently, as it’s allowed previously locked titles, like Borderlands 4 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth to become available to pirates.
It’s drawn ire for the security vulnerabilities it’s opened up to users. However, most seem to be willing to run the risk if it means being able to play the latest title for free. It’s worth noting that some of the security risks have been minimized in recent versions, but some aren’t totally sold on the give-and-take set-up.
“The newer version is supposed to be safer but still, hold your horses if you don’t have a spare machine to run it on. Just in case,” one user cautioned on Reddit.
Perhaps most noteworthy is the fact that it took about a day for the crack to become available. That’s even with needing to trace newer Denuvo checks that were recently added in the latest version of the controversial software.
That Crimson Desert was able to be cracked, even if some take issue with labeling it as a crack vs. a bypass, is just one of several developments in the piracy community.
A little over a week ago, Doom: The Dark Ages was cracked by voices3, becoming the first title from 2025 that has Denuvo to be cracked outright by pirates. voices38 is one of the most prolific members of the piracy community, and their work on being able to crack titles that have Denuvo has made waves in recent months.
As the battle against Denuvo continues to be waged, it’s unclear what the company plans to do next. If the software ultimately doesn’t work as intended and paid for by publishers, then it might cease to be utilized, opening up games to even more piracy.
- Released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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Pearl Abyss
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