It’s been a while since we’ve last had a major piracy-related development in the world of gaming. Denuvo is still a thing, and most of the games that have released so far in 2026 have all factored it in. Even Crimson Desert, which was set to not have Denuvo, making it a prime target for pirates, decided to implement the anti-tamper software ahead of its launch.
However, in another massive achievement in the ongoing battle against Denuvo, last year’s Doom: The Dark Ages, a title that’s protected by Denuvo, has been cracked by pirates.
What stands out the most from this achievement is the fact that it’s a 2025 game that’s been cracked. Previous titles that had Denuvo that were cracked weren’t nearly as notable or new. Those titles included things like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered and Starlink: Battle for Atlas.
They showed the potential for a tool set that is seemingly catching up to modern titles, one that could eventually be able to crack titles on day-and-date.
“The next one might surprise you,” the cracker, voices38, wrote on Reddit.
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Some think that it’s the recently-released Resident Evil Requiem, which, along with several other titles, has been the focus of a new piracy method, albeit one that has massive security concerns.
Of course, it’s likely that Denuvo is working in the background on its own technology. However, whatever updates it has can’t prevent the spread of what is already out there.
Normally, Pirates Are Stuck Waiting Until Denuvo Is Removed
Because Denuvo is a paid-for service on the part of video game publishers, eventually the protection is removed for titles, and the game is then promptly pirated. That removal usually happens after it’s become financially unfeasible to continue paying for it, or if the company has already extracted all the value it can out of buyers, it is OK with the potential for piracy.
Such was the case recently with the recent Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remake, and the game was cracked that same day. However, because these tools are growing even more sophisticated, pirates don’t even have to wait for that moment.
There’s a real possibility that we’ll see our first day-and-date crack of a game in 2026 that has Denuvo, if not cracks of multiple released titles in 2026. At that point, it will almost certainly have publishers wondering what the purpose of Denuvo is if it can’t prevent such piracy as its intended.
- Released
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May 15, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
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