Denuvo is a contentious piece of software. Many gamers hate it due to reports it hinders game performance, and DRM (digital rights management) in and of itself is something a lot of people take umbrage with. After the Payday 3 beta, some fans were disappointed to note the inclusion of Denuvo.
“It’s about us providing the best experience possible for our players,” Almir Listo, Payday 3’s global brand director and head of community told Dot Esports at Gamescom today. “What we have seen during our internal playtests, even before we had the beta because Denuvo was already activated before then, is that it does not negatively affect the game experience.”
Denuvo is, at its core, a piece of anti-cheat software, essential for ensuring developers can “provide a safe and secure experience” for everyone playing. There’s nothing worse than joining a multiplayer lobby and getting killed through walls or facing invincible enemies, so anti-cheat software aims to prevent this.
Listo told Dot that in his capacity as head of community, he is well aware of how it feels about these sorts of things. He reads articles and checks forum discussions to keep tabs on things, but is still certain Denuvo doesn’t impact the performance of Payday 3 negatively. “There’s no fps drop,” he assures us.
He adds, “For us, there hasn’t been any issues so far, and if there would be, we would have to deal with it accordingly.” Payday 3 differs from Payday 2 in that it’s server-based, not peer-to-peer. Listo acknowledges this will make modding “different” from how it was before, but Denuvo won’t prevent modding altogether. He hopes it just stops griefers from crashing people’s games.
Disclaimer: The quotes used in this article were gathered via an interview conducted by Vic Hood at Gamescom on Aug. 24, 2023.
