DOOM Eternal will remove its Denuvo Anti-Cheat software in the next update.
According to Id Software exec Marty Stratton, the dev team will do the removal to “re-evaluate our approach to anti-cheat integration.” Stratton noted that the feedback from their players became the primary convincing factor.
The game received massive backlash from fans who received the first update. The entire blowback is so hard that it bombed DOOM Eternal’s review score from positive to mixed in less than a week.
Id Software exec tells Denuvo decision not from Bethesda
In his statement, Marty Stratton noted that the decision to include Denuvo’s Anti-Cheat came from several factors. These factors included the need to protect competitive multiplayer gamers from cheaters. He mentioned cheat protection for the future Invasion update too.
The dev team also considered their slow response for anti-cheat protection in DOOM 2016. Stratton also quelled rumors about the role of their publisher, Bethesda, in the decision with Denuvo.
“I have seen speculation online that Bethesda (our parent company and publisher) is forcing these or other decisions on us, and it’s simply untrue,” he said in Reddit.
At the same statement, the executive producer further quelled speculation that Denuvo was the cause of the stability issues.
We're currently working on PC only Update 1.1 for DOOM Eternal that will remove Denuvo anti-cheat and address a number of crashes. https://t.co/EpiK3URxvn
— id Software (@idSoftware) May 20, 2020
He listed that the performance problems come from a variety of code changes. These adjustments include fixes to VRAM allocation and memory-related crashes. Stratton promised to undo the changes to revert issues on the next rollout.
Backlash with Denuvo comes from distrust with DRM provider
The backlash for the addition of Denuvo on Doom Eternal came from the apparent performance issues related to the game. Many gamers who received the update were unable to run their purchased title after the rollout. Players who experienced the issue refunded the game outright.
Denuvo’s anti-cheat software has a bad reputation across players. Gamers have speculated for a long time that the DRM software creates heavy performance issues in different games.
Many benchmarking articles and testers tried to find evidence, with varying results. Some testers confirmed the issue in some games. Some benchmarkers don’t find the issue in other games at all.
In March, Bethesda accidentally released a DRM-free version of the game. DRM software allows companies to monitor potential piracy of their games. These games usually need continuous internet connections or other ways to double-check the game’s authenticity.
Stratton did not mention the date when the next update is rolling out for DOOM Eternal. Players are waiting for the update to continue enjoying the new add-ons to the game. Update 1 included a sizeable chunk of improvements to DOOM’s gameplay.
Featured image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks/ Youtube Screenshots