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Updated: Dual-DRM might be causing high CPU usage on Assassin’s Creed Origins

Update (01/11/17): Since the launch of Assassin's Creed: Origins, some users have noticed something rather peculiar with the PC version. The game seems to max out many processors on the market with 100% usage. According to one cracker, this was down to Ubisoft running two forms of DRM at once, putting an additional strain on hardware for legitimate buyers in an effort to lock pirates out. Now, some proof has also surfaced.

After speaking with TorrentFreak earlier this week, the cracker known as Voksi took to Reddit to offer some proof of his findings. Right now, AC: Origins uses both Denuvo as well as VMProtect. It seems that the latter is causing the strain on CPU usage, as the game calls back to VMProtect every second, or at least every time your character moves. Here is the screenshot he uploaded, showing the AC:O program checking in with VMProtect:

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Original Story (30/10/17): On Friday, the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed: Origins launched and while for the most part, the game has been getting praise, some PC users have been a bit unhappy. At the moment, Assassin’s Creed Origins exhibits high CPU usage, which was initially pinned down to Ubisoft’s developers making full use of available resources on PC. However, according to a particular game cracker, the situation is different, as apparently AC: Origins uses two levels of DRM, causing an additional strain on PC hardware.

This information is coming from Voksi, who is part of the ‘Revolt’ cracking team that previously cracked Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Voksi says that Assassin’s Creed Origins is running a version of VMProtect on top of Denuvo’s anti-tamper code. This is apparently increasing CPU usage by an additional 30-40%. This isn’t necessarily an issue for users of the Core i7/Ryzen 7 and beyond, but it can be an issue for those running on a smaller number of cores with no Hyper Threading.

It seems that Ubisoft may have been spooked by the recent string of Denuvo cracks, which have been coming in at a much faster rate throughout 2017. In order to bolster Denuvo and keep the game piracy free for a bit longer, Ubisoft added VMProtect on top to stop crackers from reverse-engineering Denuvo.

With that in mind, Assassin’s Creed Origins is going to be difficult to crack and may end up protected for a longer period of time. However, it seems to be coming at a performance cost that some PC players won’t be happy about.

KitGuru Says: I’m fortunate enough to have a high-end gaming PC at this point in my life, so I haven’t encountered any performance issues with Assassin’s Creed Origins. However, the high levels of CPU usage does seem to be worrying a number of players. Have many of you had issues with AC: Origins? What CPU are you using to run the game? 

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24 comments

  1. screw legit buyers we want to fuck pirates good thinking by ubi soft lol

  2. well… like the author i also have a high end gaming pc… and i haven’t had any issues with the game so far.

  3. Nikolas Karampelas

    DRM is stupid, it always screw with the buyers, pirates just wait for a cracker to break the DRM and they get a better experience than the buyers…
    Just use a light drm and let it be, pirates will pirate anyway.

  4. Troy ApronMan Gerbrandt

    Does this meen cracked versions with the the drms removed will run better?

  5. I can’t say for sure, but I’m assuming so.

  6. Mustavi Sadi Aryan

    Most probably. This issue has just been noticed by Ubisoft.

    http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/1776047-Ubisoft-is-aware-of-the-high-cpu-usage-and-is-planning-to-fix-in-a-future-update

  7. Mustavi Sadi Aryan

    Also, didn’t EU do a survey that proved that piracy boosts sales and then supress it anyway just to please the pro-copyright activists? That’s hypocritical in its own way.

  8. thing is pirates waiting for crack will never buy game even if its not cracked for say next 5-6months they will never buy. not every one owns high end rig i upgraded my pc late 2014 when 970 is out i have no plans upgrading now i intend to stick with it and get ps4 this Christmas. will get game for console better that way than support this 4 layered drm shit on pc

  9. While not a Ubisoft fan, its now at a stage (Piracy) where u cannot blame them.
    Anyway, 4 core users are more likely to be Pirates. Cheap ass processor running a 60 euro game,
    doesn’t make sense.

  10. Piracy 100% leads to sales. If a game is good and worth the money, people will buy it, if i game is bad people will not, its pretty fucking simple really.

    I have been there, i dont do it so much these days, just the occasional TV show episode, but over the last 10 years i had downloaded many games to see if they were any good, demo’s used to be a thing, you could test before you spent money, now you are expected to buy a game pre order to play the game in a buggy state before the game is released to the general public to play, they make you pay to be an effective beta tester.

    I have no sympathy for AAA producers, all they do is force stupid microtransactions in to paid for games that make them pay to win, i for one am sick of this bullshit, one reason why i wont be buying any of the big releases this year, no CoD or SWBF2, i will stick to games done well, Overwatch is great fun, as is Destiny 2(both games friends got for me to play with them as i don’t buy big dev games anymore out of principle until they change the way they do things, and the only way that is going to change is if people change their habits)

    TLDR, Piracy lets people on a budget see if a game is worth their money, if it is, 90% of people i know who pirate will buy the game. AAA publishers only have themselves to blame.

  11. Ubisoft has always sucked at DRM, but as long as idiots keep buying, they’ll keep annoying us with this shit.

  12. Jason Paul Walker

    3 year old 4770k working fine and hitting around 65% on the in game benchmark.

  13. not mine. it’s getting pegged 100% out in the middle of the desert.

  14. i bought just cause 3 instead of waiting for a crack, a decision is regret, because of the early stage denuvo the game ran horrifically bad, and it still does.

    so unless i really want a game, i will never buy it if it has denuvo

  15. you can blame them though, its a fact that piracy doesnt harm sales, in fact it usually boosts them, a pirate is more than willing to support a dev that puts work in to their games. i’ve bought quite a few games i’ve pirated, even single player games because they’re simply worth it

  16. I have the game and believe me the game look amazing and yeah my CPU is always Max Out… but that being said the game is always running at 60 FPS@1080p (Max AA and Graphics Settings no matter the setting I have about 10 in game hours right now) I don’t have the newest of the processor but the game runs fine with no problems or major bugs so I’m very happy with the game, the gameplay is amazing, and the map is huge like Ghost Recon wildlands size or bigger lots of hours of gameplay totally worth it if like the assassins games or want to try one out..

    pc specs
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4
    [email protected] Cooled by NH-D15
    16GB G.Skill @1600MHz
    EVGA GTX 1080@2GHz and OC Vram
    sound blaster titanium HD
    Samsung 840 250GB SSD for Some Games and OS

  17. this is why pricey is going to win f the buyer why should i buy this crap when pricey is better no drm
    this is why im now turning to pricey

  18. The Witcher 3 sold well on all platforms with no drm.

  19. i pre ordered that shit[jc3] had to wait month or so to be able to play cause game stuttered like hell. memory leaks game just eats up ram.even console versions are mess. i think game is working fine now i played it like couple months ago game is running fine.

  20. Only people worried are Pirates.
    60 Euro game on a 150 euro CPU?

    Silly if u are doing it.

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  24. Mustavi Sadi Aryan

    LOL, I’m a pirate and I have a beast PC. Xeon E5 2630 v4 and a GTX 1080.