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Denuvo Anti-Cheat launches in Doom Eternal PC update

Doom Eternal's latest update on PC utilizes Denuvo Anti-Cheat to protect its multiplayer Battlemode, and players are not thrilled about it.

TJ Denzer

May 15, 2020 8:33 AM

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The response when Denuvo comes up is often one of concern about what it will do to the quality of a game. Usually this is directed at the company’s anti-tampering and anti-piracy add-ons to various popular games. That said, this time, Denuvo has launched a new Anti-Cheat software, and the launch has kicked off on Doom Eternal to protect the game’s multiplayer Battlemode component.

Denuvo Anti-Cheat was announced alongside Doom Eternal’s first major update featuring a list of quality-of-life fixes and balance updates, which was posted on Steam on May 14, 2020. Notably, the update list features the addition of the Denuvo Anti-Cheat system, also announced and explained on the Irdeto website. A kernel-level system much like Riot Games’ anti-cheat system in Valorant, Denuvo Anti-Cheat allegedly doesn’t get in your way, but the team at Irdeto realized this invisibility may be even more concerning, and so went on to explain exactly what the system does. Nonetheless, players are not pleased with the addition of the software to the game.

As a kernel mode system, and though Denuvo Anti-Cheat claims to not collect information from PCs outside of the way the operating system works in relation to the game to which it is attached, there are many who feel its still a security issue that could be manipulated. Though Doom Eternal still holds a positive rating on Steam’s review system, it also saw an influx of around 500 negative reviews on May 15 alone at the time of this writing. The game’s Steam Forum and Reddit are also showing a wealth of new topics and rants related to the addition of Denuvo Anti-Cheat to the game.

Certainly, some are merely concerned at the mere mention of Denuvo, who’s Anti-Tamper software has caused issues in games as recent as Rage 2 and Two Point Hospital. But that’s not to say that concerns over having a system that intimate in games like Doom Eternal are invalid. Even so, with Denuvo Anti-Cheat having freshly launched and other anti-cheat systems like it existing in popular games like Valorant, it remains to be seen what effect these new systems have on the games and PCs to which they’re applied.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.