Ghostwire: Tokyo Content Update Quietly Adds Denuvo DRM

Ghostwire: Tokyo received a free DLC update titled Spider’s Thread that added new story missions to the game, as well as combat abilities and other quality-of-life features. However, the PC version also added the controversial anti-piracy software Denuvo to the proceedings, an unannounced change that’s been met with confusion and outright hostility from the PC gaming community.

If you aren’t familiar, Denuvo is a DRM tool that ostensibly prevents players from playing games that they haven’t paid for. The software has been noted for having a negative impact on game performance, especially in terms of frame rate, making it quite unpopular among PC enthusiasts who spend a lot of money on such things. It’s extremely unusual for a developer to add Denuvo to a game a year after launch, which just raises further questions.

Denuvo has been in the news quite a bit over the past few weeks, as the upcoming vampire shooter Redfall will use the software on PC. Capcom also removed Denuvo from Resident Evil Village recently without much fanfare. Village was criticized at launch for its use of the software, as it resulted in significant performance drops on PC. However, the recent Resident Evil 4 still uses Denuvo.