New Denuvo products make PC game modding and Nintendo Switch emulation harder

Irdeto, the company behind Denuvo, has introduced a set of anti-piracy tools for both the PC (Unreal Engine) and the Nintendo Switch. Although beneficial for developers, gamers may not see the inclusion of these tools as a good thing, as they'll deem PC game modding and Switch emulation impossible.

The company said that its tools are now accessible to Switch developers, making it the first partner to be admitted to Nintendo's Developer Portal. One of its products, the Emulator Protector, prevents Nintendo's current console games from being played on PC emulators. As per Irdeto, the software helps creators increase their revenue during the game launch window by requiring anyone who wants to play the game to purchase a copy.

Nintendo has taken legal action against ROM providers and emulation sites in the past, but Denuvo's Emulator Protector may do a better job of hampering these efforts on its own.

Besides the Emulator Protector, Irdeto also introduced a new anti-tamper technology called Unreal Engine Protection (UEP). Designed to prevent users from manipulating games based on Unreal Engine, the UEP is supposed to protect against data mining efforts, prevent the use of in-game debug consoles, and conceal entry points to prevent game modification.

Due to how it works and what it prevents, it seems PC game modding will become considerably harder on titles using this tech. If it gets to that, developers may have to choose between using this tool or allowing modding on their titles.

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KitGuru says: Denuvo has proven to be quite challenging to crack, but it isn't an impossible task. Eventually, someone will find a workaround for this and the game of cat and mouse between game-cracking groups and developers will continue. 

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