Does the DRM in PC games get updated along with the rest of the game?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨CorrodedCranium@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I was thinking about if it made sense for games to keep their DRM if a cracked version has been released due to the issues DRM can occasionally cause for the consumer.

GOG installers are already DRM free but I feel like you don’t see those shared online anymore than you do pirated games.

The only reason I could see keeping the DRM making sense is if the version of Denovo or other DRM was updated alongside the game. If it is how long do they typically receive updates for? I know some games like Doom Eternal had Denovo removed but I don’t know if that’s due to cracks existing or the time the game has been out.

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cley_faye@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ah, you’re trying to apply logic to corporate control freaks. That won’t work. I would start by saying that DRM, even if a cracked version of a game is not yet available, don’t help much with sales, which is almost the only metric big publishers understand.

But even after that, there are contracts; they keep paying to use the most aggressive DRMs way after the game is cracked, and sometimes way after they stop publishing updates altogether. It’s not based on numbers or usefulness, it’s based on “we want to have control”.

Ahem. Back to the question. DRM can get updates. It happens seldomly, and most of them is on a game-by-game basis. But most publisher won’t bother.

Also, sometimes DRM are removed after a short period of time (sometimes day 1, like with Rage 2). Sometimes they are kept forever. As far as any outside observer can tell, this is never linked to any measurable metric.

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laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Denuvo is an expensive service so games tend to lose it after a year or two. However some single player games that have more spread out sales windows tend to keep it much much longer. Doom eternal has a relatively short campaign and sales will drop off pretty quick after initial release so it loses Denuvo after a while. However, something like Assassin’s Creed has a very long play time and is the type of game people aren’t really desperate to play in day one so it Denuvo stays active for basically forever, even after Empress initially cracks it. That’s because it’ll need to be recracked everytime a dlc drops which large single players tend to have a lot off and tend to be major content updates.

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- CorrodedCranium@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Does that mean DRM services aren’t a one time purchase for studios even if the DRM isn’t updated?
  
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  - laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    I know that Denuvo is at least. It’s because the software needs to phone home to work.
    
    In 2016, Crytec, the makers of Crysis had their Denuvo costs leaked. imgur.io/a/t2UKOha. 120,000€ for the first year. 2000€ a month after that. Plus fees for each storefront and fees for each sale and fees if the game sells over a half million in a month.
    
    This old Reddit thread has pricing information straight from the horse’s mouth. reddit.com/…/conversation_with_a_denuvo_employee/
    
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