Irdeto reveals new DRM scheme to prevent game modding

[Armenius]

Just when you thought the DRM dystopia couldn't get any worse, the company behind Denuvo Anti-tamper has revealed a new DRM scheme at Gamescom to prevent people from modding Unreal Engine games. I will honestly be surprised if this has any significant uptake within the industry in the future, considering how modding greatly extends the legs of a game and promotes more sales (see The Elder Scrolls series). It is worrying nonetheless to see such a product emerge that is even more anti-consumer than Denuvo Anti-tamper.

https://irdeto.com/news/denuvo-by-i...ures-for-enhanced-gaming-security-at-gamescom

Denuvo Unreal Engine Protection and Integrity Verification features deliver the next level of game security. ​

AMSTERDAM – August 22, 2023 – Denuvo by Irdeto, the leading provider of security solutions for the gaming industry, proudly announced during Gamescom the release of two new features that can be used independently or in combination to their state-of-the-art Anti-Tamper product. With the introduction of the new Unreal Engine Protection and Integrity Verification features, Denuvo by Irdeto reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding gaming experiences and ensuring fair play in the gaming ecosystem.

Unreal Engine Protection ​

Denuvo’s Unreal Engine Protection is a pioneering feature designed to prevent malicious users from manipulating games created using Unreal Engine, the industry’s foremost real-time 3D creation tool for photoreal visuals and immersive experiences.

Like all Denuvo products, this first-of-its-kind solution is easy to integrate into the game on a binary level, effectively thwarting data mining attempts and creating formidable barriers against cheat creators, pirates and fraudsters. It shields Unreal Engine game data files against decryption, blocks the use of in-game debug consoles, and conceals entry points to deter game modification. As the tools for attacking Unreal Engine games are publicly available and easy to use, this feature becomes an essential safeguard, offering an effortless yet robust defense against this vector.

“With the Unreal Engine Protection, we are creating new weapons for the gaming industry’s fight against hackers trying to do things with games that are not supposed to be done,” said Doug Lowther, Chief Executive Officer at Irdeto. “Our commitment to staying ahead of the curve in gaming security is exemplified by this first-to-market solution, enabling game developers and publishers to protect their creations with unparalleled ease.”

Integrity Verification ​

In addition to the Unreal Engine Protection, Denuvo by Irdeto is proud to unveil the Denuvo Integrity Verification feature which will bring more granular options to the Anti-Tamper product. This versatile feature empowers developers to verify the integrity of their own game code, safeguarding against both static and dynamic tampering.

The Integrity Verification feature ensures attackers are unable to alter the protected game code before startup or during gameplay, fortifying gaming studios against potential tampering threats. Its seamless integration capabilities and flexibility make it an invaluable asset for gaming studios, catering to various use cases where customers seek to protect their proprietary code.

“We understand the paramount importance of code security in the gaming industry,” said Lowther. “Our Integrity Verification feature offers an effortless and robust defense, empowering our customers with a powerful tool to protect their valuable code and maintain the integrity of their gaming experiences.”

Denuvo by Irdeto’s solutions have already garnered widespread adoption in the gaming industry, and customers can easily extend their protection to encompass the Unreal Engine and Integrity Verification features with no additional effort required.
For more information about how Denuvo by Irdeto is shaping the future of gaming security, please visit https://irdeto.com/denuvo/

 

[Derangel]

For games with a big multiplayer focus (or are MP only) I can see this being adopted especially among the publishers that already use Denuvo. I’m not terribly fond of DRM but as a potential anti-cheat method perhaps this could be effective?

 

[DPI]

For games with a big multiplayer focus (or are MP only) I can see this being adopted especially among the publishers that already use Denuvo. I’m not terribly fond of DRM but as a potential anti-cheat method perhaps this could be effective?

There's not a granular enough level of detail in the press release to know the exact mechanics and capabilities (secutity reasons I assume) but if it's able to prevent D3D injection/hooking for example then it could kill most aimbots and wallhacks.

The botters that 360spin kill everyone on the map in 3 seconds with a pistol and type "REKT 2EZ" in the chat.. would get rekt. But the real boon would be against closet botters - the ones that aren't obvious, use the hack sparingly to blend in and have an edge, and are arguably more sinister.

 

[PC-Only]

I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty:

1. I will never buy any multiplayer game, not even on sale for a single penny, that allows player run servers but then includes this DRM to prevent mods made for those servers.

2. I will never buy any singleplayer game, not even on sale for a single penny, that includes this DRM.

 

[GoldenTiger]

I can tell you with 100% absolute certainty:

1. I will never buy any multiplayer game, not even on sale for a single penny, that allows player run servers but then includes this DRM to prevent mods made for those servers.

2. I will never buy any singleplayer game, not even on sale for a single penny, that includes this DRM.

Cool. We'll just enjoy fewer cheaters, as this sounds like mainly an anticheat, you can complain about it and try to pirate games to justify your absolutist stance. You probably do already....

 

[socK]

There's not a granular enough level of detail in the press release to know the exact mechanics and capabilities (secutity reasons I assume) but if it's able to prevent D3D injection/hooking for example then it could kill most aimbots and wallhacks.

The botters that 360spin kill everyone on the map in 3 seconds with a pistol and type "REKT 2EZ" in the chat.. would get rekt. But the real boon would be against closet botters - the ones that aren't obvious, use the hack sparingly to blend in and have an edge, and are arguably more sinister.

It won't be. That will be a cat and mouse game forever until PC stops being PC - i.e. you can ban someone from ever being an admin on their system.

Although Valve's recent idea is interesting. Seems like they've used Overwatch in CS as training data for VAC.

 

[Dan_D]

I hate crap like this for single player games. Some of the most fun I've had with games comes down to the ability to mod them. Honestly, Skyrim, Fallout 3 & 4, Mass Effect 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA V are all games that hugely benefited from the modding community. Modding kept these games popular long after they'd have been completed and forgotten about.

 

[GoldenTiger]

I hate crap like this for single player games. Some of the most fun I've had with games comes down to the ability to mod them. Honestly, Skyrim, Fallout 3 & 4, Mass Effect 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA V are all games that hugely benefited from the modding community. Modding kept these games popular long after they'd have been completed and forgotten about.

I doubt many devs will try to use it as an antimod for singleplayer games. It sounds like the intent is mainly as an anticheat for online.... Guess we'll see.

 

[Prince Valiant]

If only DRM would die alone in a cold, dark, hole.

Cool. We'll just enjoy fewer cheaters, as this sounds like mainly an anticheat, you can complain about it and try to pirate games to justify your absolutist stance. You probably do already....

How cordial .

I doubt many devs will try to use it as an antimod for singleplayer games. It sounds like the intent is mainly as an anticheat for online.... Guess we'll see.

Perhaps they (developers or publishers) should implement anti-cheat on their server(s) and/or actually manage their game(s). It reads to me like a standard advertisement for all their intended features, not solely anti-cheat.

"Like all Denuvo products, this first-of-its-kind solution is easy to integrate into the game on a binary level, effectively thwarting data mining attempts and creating formidable barriers against cheat creators, pirates and fraudsters. It shields Unreal Engine game data files against decryption, blocks the use of in-game debug consoles, and conceals entry points to deter game modification. As the tools for attacking Unreal Engine games are publicly available and easy to use, this feature becomes an essential safeguard, offering an effortless yet robust defense against this vector. "

 

[Derangel]

I doubt many devs will try to use it as an antimod for singleplayer games. It sounds like the intent is mainly as an anticheat for online.... Guess we'll see.

I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see a couple studios try it, especially Japanese ones that seem to love Denuvo, but I do hope it’s not seen much in single player games.

 

[Ebernanut]

There's not a granular enough level of detail in the press release to know the exact mechanics and capabilities (secutity reasons I assume) but if it's able to prevent D3D injection/hooking for example then it could kill most aimbots and wallhacks.

The botters that 360spin kill everyone on the map in 3 seconds with a pistol and type "REKT 2EZ" in the chat.. would get rekt. But the real boon would be against closet botters - the ones that aren't obvious, use the hack sparingly to blend in and have an edge, and are arguably more sinister.

The standard version can already block scripthooks. I've encountered a (singleplayer) game or two where I couldn't use x360ce to remap gamepad functions due to denuvo.

On a separate note I don't have any problem with anti-cheat stuff in multiplayer games but I hate when modding gets blocked on a single player game because it's also got a multiplayer mode(bonus negative points if it's tacked on to sell microtransactions or check a feature box).

 

[wareyore]

I hate crap like this for single player games. Some of the most fun I've had with games comes down to the ability to mod them. Honestly, Skyrim, Fallout 3 & 4, Mass Effect 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA V are all games that hugely benefited from the modding community. Modding kept these games popular long after they'd have been completed and forgotten about.

Yep - Single player game - start game, wait for DRM checks to complete, wait for login to service/servers, eventually get to single player game. Hope the servers are never taken offline as you are just leasing games at that point.

 

[M76]

Although I give zero fucks about online, public lobby multiplayer games, I understand that cheaters are a problem there. However legitimate interest won't prevent developers and publishers from abusing the technology and putting it into single player games and dedicated servers as well.

And to be frank, the sales pitch is already for anti-modding, not for anti cheat. So we all know what is coming.

 

[MrGuvernment]

Cool. We'll just enjoy fewer cheaters, as this sounds like mainly an anticheat, you can complain about it and try to pirate games to justify your absolutist stance. You probably do already....

Or some people do not want root kits installed on their computers such as those some current games use already, which in turn have done little to stop cheaters and bots....

 

[Absalom]

Not a fan of these brute force methods. No matter how they sell it, it's still invasive and then there's the whole "chain of trust" issue. This technology would have been fine 20 years ago, but there are more elegant ways of dealing with cheating today.

I absolutely love the "hallucination" techniques the Call of Duty anti-cheat devs came up with recently. Far more elegant solution. The next evolution of this will be to pluck a suspicious subject seamlessly out of a game and then drop them into a virtual one. Then observe their behavior as they harmlessly play out the experiment. If they fail the test, flag them and deal with them accordingly. Otherwise, put them back in play hopefully none the wiser.

Cheating is a psychological war, not a technological war.

 

[Savagek]

Modding is one of the reasons im exclusively a PC gamer. Hope this doesn't have a major impact in the future.

 

[DukenukemX]

Just when you thought the DRM dystopia couldn't get any worse, the company behind Denuvo Anti-tamper has revealed a new DRM scheme at Gamescom to prevent people from modding Unreal Engine games. I will honestly be surprised if this has any significant uptake within the industry in the future, considering how modding greatly extends the legs of a game and promotes more sales (see The Elder Scrolls series). It is worrying nonetheless to see such a product emerge that is even more anti-consumer than Denuvo Anti-tamper.

The only reason to use this DRM is to prevent mods that would offer better stuff than micro-transactions. If you sell a single player game and you plan to include micro-transactions then modders will mod. If your game has this form of DRM then it probably wasn't worth the time and money.

 

[SmokeRngs]

Not a fan of these brute force methods. No matter how they sell it, it's still invasive and then there's the whole "chain of trust" issue. This technology would have been fine 20 years ago, but there are more elegant ways of dealing with cheating today.

I absolutely love the "hallucination" techniques the Call of Duty anti-cheat devs came up with recently. Far more elegant solution. The next evolution of this will be to pluck a suspicious subject seamlessly out of a game and then drop them into a virtual one. Then observe their behavior as they harmlessly play out the experiment. If they fail the test, flag them and deal with them accordingly. Otherwise, put them back in play hopefully none the wiser.

Cheating is a psychological war, not a technological war.

The best anti-cheat was always private servers run by guilds/clans/whatever who moderated their servers. It's one of the reasons I quit playing online FPS games when they basically destroyed that community with achievements/stats/whatever and forced everyone to company servers. The loss of community and the ability to use mods and custom maps killed the vast majority of enjoyment I got out of those games.

 

[Flogger23m]

The best anti-cheat was always private servers run by guilds/clans/whatever who moderated their servers. It's one of the reasons I quit playing online FPS games when they basically destroyed that community with achievements/stats/whatever and forced everyone to company servers. The loss of community and the ability to use mods and custom maps killed the vast majority of enjoyment I got out of those games.

The last MP game I played that had proper servers was BF4. That didn't support modding. The only current game I play the supports modding is Insurgency Sandstorm, but servers don't work quite the same. I can't remember the last game with both.

 

[Deleted member 162929]

I used to run L4D servers and when someone joined me and my friends would quickly build a steel cage out of chain link fences around them, spawn a tank or 30, and make them regret joining the server lol

How you gonna try to ruin the magic of that with DRM?

 

[M76]

The only reason to use this DRM is to prevent mods that would offer better stuff than micro-transactions. If you sell a single player game and you plan to include micro-transactions then modders will mod. If your game has this form of DRM then it probably wasn't worth the time and money.

In the current year it can also serve to prevent you from doing things that they deem not to be politically correct.

 

[DukenukemX]

In the current year it can also serve to prevent you from doing things that they deem not to be politically correct.

That's even worse. That's like Apple looking at all your photos to make sure you're not a pedo.

 

[GoldenTiger]

That's even worse. That's like Apple looking at all your photos to make sure you're not a pedo.

This thing doesn't scan, it just blocks everything, which can incidentally include that. Not at all like apple's thing.

 

[RanceJustice]

Fucking disgraceful, like everything related to Denuvo and all other sort of invasive "anti-tamper/cheat/piracy/modding" solutions out there. Its just a constant fire hose of feces aimed at ensuring complete control to serve the wills of the publisher/platform. The player, their hardware etc...are all inconveniences at any time that a wallet is not being opened in perpetuity. The fact it runs on your PC is a bug from their platform but, as the Stadia-era attempt to "cloud-ifty" everything didn't work yet for a number of reasons mostly technical (and they will try in the future if we don't push a different vision for both client and server control of cloud gaming but I digress), Valorent's basically a rootkit ring0 anti-cheat or EAC and many others, the attempt to use TPM 2.0, Pluton storage and Windows 11 compliance to "console-ify" and ban on hardware identifier levels etc...its all part of the same structure and they add bit by bit when they think people will accept it.

Its no surprise they come now for mods and engine level encryption - Irdeto is basically trying to market this to the industry. However, we can only hope that most developers and publishers will at least for the time not see it as worth licensing, but every step forward like this is a new tool that execs can use the next time a justification for "Our game didn't sell as well as predicted! Surely its not that its bad, or we jammed it full of garbage monetization, or that we priced it stupidly etc... it must have been the evil pira...er..modders! They're using mods instead of paying for our Creative Extortionist Club Tools! We gave them 8 whole blocks and a package of assets we bought off a bundle, what the fuck do these ingrates want! " and they'll throw more money at Irudeto for something that in no way improves the game but that's not really the point now is it?

 

[MrGuvernment]

That's even worse. That's like Apple looking at all your photos to make sure you're not a pedo.

Google and MS also do this.. and they use the hash of known content to compare against the hash of your content, no actually looking at every image, however, OneDrive did note it indexes all files and contents of them 'to provide you a better experience" so I am sure with some of the AI now they are going through every image.

 

[Flogger23m]

Regardless of their intentions, I assume modding will be impacted.

 

[Sycraft]

Google and MS also do this.. and they use the hash of known content to compare against the hash of your content, no actually looking at every image, however, OneDrive did note it indexes all files and contents of them 'to provide you a better experience" so I am sure with some of the AI now they are going through every image.

Supposedly more advanced than just hashing. MS calls it PhotoDNA and lots of places use it.

 

[ElementDave]

The term you're looking for is "perceptual hashing". Apple refers to its perceptual hashing function as NeuralHash: https://www.apple.com/child-safety/pdf/CSAM_Detection_Technical_Summary.pdf

 

[GoodBoy]

..the sales pitch is already for anti-modding, not for anti cheat...

In games that are not meant to be modded. Many multiplayer games never supported mods, doesn't mean they can't be hacked in. That is what enables cheating.

In single player games with mod support, this would make no sense to implement, so the outrage appears misdirected to me.

 

[GDI Lord]

"We don't want people to mod our games because we want to sell remasters in five to ten year's time."

 

[The Mad Atheist]

I haven't been paying for any game since I discovered Epic and Steam been giving them away weekly so I'm not sure if I care. Tho I did buy the Shadow Warrior Trilogy for dirt cheap a few months back, have yet to play them......

There needs to be something for GT5 Online, there's too many clowns F-ing it up for others to make it enjoyable.

Anyway, isn't the point of have top spec rigs is to get DRM from bogging down your games, lol.

 

[NamelessPFG]

The fact that they're targeting Unreal Engine specifically is something I find especially insulting, because Unreal Tournament wouldn't have been what it was without all the custom content - UnrealEd was an option on every install, small mods like mutators and maps were automatically downloaded from the server, and of course you had the typical total conversion sorta mods that, if they were especially good, would potentially have you winning the Make Something Unreal contest. (That's actually how Tripwire Interactive was founded, come to think of it - Red Orchestra won that contest and they got a UE2 commercial license, back when you couldn't just get UDK for free.)

Hell, one of my fave UT'99 mods isn't even some fancy total conversion - it's just a simple weapon mod called the Strangelove, basically a Redeemer whose alt-fire lets you ride the rocket instead of remote-controlling it. Puts a bit of risk into guiding an OP mini-nuke to your target, and also enables enough extra mobility that they devised entire maps around it that were kinda like obstacle courses.

Mods are a big part of what defines PC gaming, and it's been that way since as far back as Doom. Hell, people still mod Doom extensively these days, in part thanks to enhanced source ports, and they probably won't stop until the heat death of the universe.

Even going past that, it's easy for people to forget that things like Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, even Defense of the Ancients all started out as mods for other games before going standalone. Leave it to the community to take existing games, put interesting twists on the formula, and perhaps spawn entire genres as a result.

Anyway, I think we all know the line about how those who would sacrifice liberty in the name of security deserve neither...

 

[Flogger23m]

The fact that they're targeting Unreal Engine specifically is something I find especially insulting, because Unreal Tournament wouldn't have been what it was without all the custom content - UnrealEd was an option on every install, small mods like mutators and maps were automatically downloaded from the server, and of course you had the typical total conversion sorta mods that, if they were especially good, would potentially have you winning the Make Something Unreal contest. (That's actually how Tripwire Interactive was founded, come to think of it - Red Orchestra won that contest and they got a UE2 commercial license, back when you couldn't just get UDK for free.)

That is a good example. Not sure what Tripwire is up to these days, seems like they have gotten out of the realistic shooter market which is disappointing. They had good post release support. Even Rising Storm started as a mod and then became an official addon for RO2.

Edit: Apparently they were purchased by Embracer Group. I assume that is bad. Embracer also purchased New World Interactive (Insurgency Sandstorm). Maybe Tripwire and NWI can work together on bigger budget follow up to those games, but I think they will just get some trash pushed onto them and both studios will close down.

 

[bigdogchris]

Totally depends on the game. If it's an online game I can see why a company would not want to allow mods. If it's a single player game, who cares as long as you are only competing against yourself.

 

[DukenukemX]

Totally depends on the game. If it's an online game I can see why a company would not want to allow mods. If it's a single player game, who cares as long as you are only competing against yourself.

I don't think there's a single online game that allowed modding. You mod an online game and there's a good chance you're getting banned. I'm afraid to apply a latencyfix mod to online games because there is a chance you can get banned. It's single player where this new DRM scheme is aiming for. You can't effectively put micro-transactions into a single player game and not expect modders to not only implement the same features but go beyond it. It is silly for them to assume that modders won't find ways around DRM, especially if the game is popular. Without mods, some games could never reach the same level of success as Skyrim did.

 

[uOpt]

I don't think there's a single online game that allowed modding. You mod an online game and there's a good chance you're getting banned. I'm afraid to apply a latencyfix mod to online games because there is a chance you can get banned. It's single player where this new DRM scheme is aiming for. You can't effectively put micro-transactions into a single player game and not expect modders to not only implement the same features but go beyond it. It is silly for them to assume that modders won't find ways around DRM, especially if the game is popular. Without mods, some games could never reach the same level of success as Skyrim did.

LOTRO has UI mods. Some very useful ones.

 

[DukenukemX]

LOTRO has UI mods. Some very useful ones.

I haven't played LOTRO but if it's anything like World of Warcraft then these are mods allowed within the games rules. World of Warcraft has thousands of addons you can install in the game to modify the UI. You won't get banned for these, but you can be banned for other mods that work outside of the game.

 

[SmokeRngs]

I haven't played LOTRO but if it's anything like World of Warcraft then these are mods allowed within the games rules. World of Warcraft has thousands of addons you can install in the game to modify the UI. You won't get banned for these, but you can be banned for other mods that work outside of the game.

Lotro has a LUA scripting/plugin system which is limited on what you can and can't do it with it. But if you can find a way to do something within the LUA system you can do it. It has a plugin manager built into the game specifically for these plugins.

I have never even looked at the LUA system itself much less tried to make or modify a plugin. The description above is a very basic explanation of what is allowed or possible.

 

[RanceJustice]

I haven't played LOTRO but if it's anything like World of Warcraft then these are mods allowed within the games rules. World of Warcraft has thousands of addons you can install in the game to modify the UI. You won't get banned for these, but you can be banned for other mods that work outside of the game.

Its been ages since I played LOTRO and I only did it as a trial of sorts, but if its like any of the other Turbine managed games of its era (I have to give LOTRO and DDO credit back in the day - there wasa brief, brief period of time where they did what I say many other MMOs SHOULD do - when they went Free2Play and had an item mall, subscribers got ALL the benefits and didn't have to pay anything additional for cosmetics or similar content. Sadly, I hear they stopped this) then this is the case. WoW's paradigm took over from what some older MMOs like EverQuest or Final Fantasy XI did with some mods and tools being internal (ie EQInterface is still around, and Allakhazam gave rise to what would be WoWInterface and WoWhead etc) and others being external applications notably log parsers like ACT and the "multi-boxing" utilities.

WoW pretty much settled things in creating an open API, based on an open language (in its case Lua) for mod development that is always "safe". So long as you stick to what it allows you to do, you don't have to worry about getting banned. Generally, it was the game's devs that changed things - I remember when WoW devs changed the API to stop a mod called "Decursive" from being able to generate a single button that let you auto-magically cure curse/disease/poisons to anyone afflicted in your raid so that the mod could still work but you had to click on raid frames instead. This prompted WoW's devs to change an in-game raid boss (Naxxramas, and before that Molten Core) because the devs built the encounter with the understanding that most high end raiders were using mods like this, and therefore someone trying to decurse "manually" would be at a huge disadvantage. Years an expansions later, they again changed the API to stop mods that basically "wrote on the ground the safe places to stand AND spawn a giant arrow to tell you where to go to get there in advance of the attack" from having quite so blatant a feature. Of course, no player using these tools were ever in danger , it was on the devs to change the API when they saw a problem. I generally found this preferable and for several years, developed or took over maintaining several UI mods in various MMOs.

There are other paradigms for this however, at current most notably if Final Fantasy XIV's. They have some sort of "don't ask don't tell" system. There IS a series of mods that are WoW-style UI and very, very useful feature mods usually referred to by the unofficial library they use called "Dalamud" . There's even a FOSS launcher for the game needed to use these mods and its "safe"....provided you don't talk about it. Essentially, thanks to a combination of "Culturally Japanese way of handling an issue:" and "a bunch of years ago the devs learned about someone being bullied for not stacking up to another player using a log parser , so they just decided "addons bad", but also recognized a lot of players used them so it became more of a unofficial "if you use them and keep it quiet that's fine, but if anyone reports you for using them etc... they're technically against the rules" quagmire. It gets to the point that you can't specifically ask about even open source mods (one great thing is that 99% of them and the launcher you use for them is open source) in game or else you'll get a lot of people going "You're dreaming up strange things. Surely you're talking about something else right?" and the like. The "Dalamud" addons are those useful UI style closer to what most use for WoW, but there's also another style of mods that are equally if not apparently more popular "model replacers.".

"Model and skin replacers" are almost an entirely different community of modders in WoW and FFXIV (especially FFXIV) alike. These, even in WoW's more permissive landscape are technically more against the rules as they don't use the Lua scripting capabilities and APIs however since they are purely client side, they're less likely to trip anything that isn't specifically looking for it. Frankly a LOT of this community is for the "ERP" and other adult usage - consider that you can change the model of a character's body to different proportions, or make it so that a particular set of gear will appear as a lacy nighty or with thigh-highs and you'll start to get the picture, add to that how FFXIV has various individual and group poses that can be overwritten with other parameters and it goes on... I don't have a lot of experience with this side of modding, but much like the "exporting models from a game to be rigged in Unity or messed with in Blender" its...a very large community to the point that many devs (notably FFXIV) seem to tacitly avoid anything too intrusive knowing they'd stop many of their most devoted players if this was not available.

I know its a long post from an old guy ,but the point is that a lot of this is that anti-modding and other restrictions serve generally to shoot the developer in the foot. As mentioned above, look at some of the Bethesda/Zenimax games and their mods - including adult ones - that are very comprehensive. These are things that keep players coming back and attempting to lock it down to try and....sell something that's likely nowhere near as viable is disappointing to say the lease and is often cutting off one's nose to spite their face. Unfortunately, as game development has gotten more comprehensive and corporate in nature it becomes less able to assess these issues or worse blames a downturn in play, purchase or the like not on their decisions but something unrelated including boogeymen like modders or pirates.

 

[Armenius]

It appears Capcom is silently adding a scheme called Enigma Protector to their old games to prevent modding and cheating. It breaks community fixes and is causing performance issues.

https://enigmaprotector.com/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/222480/discussions/0/4034728215967966362/

A representative issued a non-apology after people noticed and said they will redeploy the update after the issue is "fixed."

https://steamcommunity.com/games/222480/announcements/detail/3990818705013251074

Capcom has already done this to other games like the Mega Man ZX Legacy Collection... A strictly single player game.

https://x.com/Prof9/status/1707518496421118315
https://nitter.poast.org/Prof9/status/1707518496421118315