Payday 3 developer removes Denuvo copy protection from game before release

Starbreeze Studios, the developer of Payday 3, reports that Denuvo copy protection is no longer coming to the game. The first-person shooter Payday 3 will be released on September 21 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

On the Payday 3’s Steam page the developer reports that ‘Denuvo is no longer in Payday 3’. Starbreeze does not elaborate on the reason for this choice in the post, but in one Reddit thread players previously expressed their dissatisfaction with the implementation of the anti-copy software. This is because Denuvo is known to cause performance losses and longer loading times.

Denuvo’s DRM software is intended to prevent illegal distribution of games. It is common for PC games to be released with copy protection. The software is often removed a few months after release. The risk of piracy is then generally smaller.

The anti-copy software has often been removed by the developers before or shortly after the release of a game. Amplitude Studio, among others, removed the DRM software from Denuvo for the release of the strategy game Humankind.