Bethesda apparently broke its own Denuvo protection for Doom Eternal, Ars Technica

                                                             Just a glance at this image has me planning my next movement and weapon choice in my head.                                                                                     

                                                             If you feel like that open mouth is just asking for a grenade to be inserted, you would be right.                                                                        

                                                             Playing

                                                             Yes, that’s a sword, and not a gun. Yes, it’s still a

                                                             These guys aren’t as bad as they look, but only if you can aim correctly.                                                                                     

                                                             The armor on this Cyber ​​Mancubus requires a charged-up Blood Punch to remove. After that he’s a cupcake.                                                                                     

                                                             Each of these enemies requires a different weapon and a different strategy to take out effectively.                                                                                     

                                                                                            I love the look of surprise on the Mancubus’ face in this shot.                                                                                                                                      One of the most relentless enemies in the game.                                                                    When Bethesda announced that
Doom Eternal

would be using Denuvo protection for its digital rights management , industry watchers assumed it would buy the game at least a short period of retail availability without a piratable “cracked” version showing up on the Internet. When the game launched, though, users quickly discovered the Bethesda Launcher version apparently included a DRM-free copy of the game’s executable sitting in plain sight amid the download package. Forum users on Reddit and

ResetEra were among the first yesterday to report on the “official” DRM-free leak , which sat in a sub-folder titled “Original” for the Bethesda Launcher version of the game. That 544 MB file can reportedly replace the 551 MB, DRM-protected executable in the main game folder with minimal effort and no practical effect on playability.

Ars has been unable to independently verify these reports, as a subsequent patch has apparently removed the DRM-free executable. But the trackers at CrackWatch and (repackers in the cracking community) have confirmed that the DRM-free version was distributed and working shortly after launch. And while the DRM-free version still requires a Bethesda account login the first time it’s run, forum reports suggest crackers have already discovered a simple method to patch that check for a completely offline pirated experience.

These things happen If this sounds like a surprising oversight for a major publisher like Bethesda to make, consider that last year launch of (Rage 2) (apparently) also included a DRM-free executable in the Bethesda Launcher version. The publisher officially removed Denuvo from the Steam version of that game just a few days later, perhaps realizing that the piracy crack genie was already out of the bottle (despite some reports to the contrary on other games, Ars testing on Arkham Knight did not show any performance impact as the result of Denuvo implementation). While Denuvo’s brand of obfuscating DRM was once considered virtually crack -proof by the community, in recent years Denuvo-protected games have sometimes been cracked (within hours) of their release . In less extreme cases, Denuvo says it still considers even a few days of effective DRM protection to be valuable to its publisher customers , who are looking to protect their vital initial post-launch sales period from free, pirated competition. of course, none of that even matters if the publisher itself leaks the key to get past Denuvo’s DRM. And while many are assuming this distribution was an accident, that’s not completely clear at this point.

Already, some piracy-watching forum goers are crafting conspiracy theories about rogue Bethesda employees hiding the easily cracked executable in the (Doom Eternal) files as a guerrilla blow against DRM. Others are joking that Bethesda as a whole is now operating as a rogue cracking group. (A Bethesda representative was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment from Ars).

Regardless, the damage is done and a cracked, repackaged version of (Doom Eternal) is either currently in the wild or will be shortly. And this time, it seems, Bethesda only has itself to blame.

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