Denuvo Removed from Star Wars Galactic Racer ahead of launch

Secret Mode has removed Denuvo from Star Wars Galactic Racer

It looks like Denuvo has been removed from Star Wars Galactic Racer, the upcoming Star Wars-themed high-speed racing experience. All references to the controversial anti-tamper technology have been removed from the game’s Steam page. This suggests that the game’s publisher has decided against using Denuvo.

Denuvo’s removal was first spotted by DSO Gaming, who uncovered the change through SteamDB. It is currently unknown why Denuvo has been removed from the game. However, it is notable that recent reports have claimed that all single-player non-VR Denuvo-protected games have been cracked or bypassed. Because of this, it is easy to see why game developers and publishers may be wary of using Denuvo. After all, if it can’t protect your game, it is a large expense without a potential upside.

Why is Denuvo Controversial?

Denuvo isn’t free, either from a hardware or a cost perspective. Denuvo checks take time and hardware resources away from the games they protect. At best, it may slightly reduce performance; at worst, it can have a dramatic impact on game loading times and overall performance. If implemented poorly, Denuvo can have major performance consequences. Furthermore, it typically inflates the size of game EXE files by several hundred megabytes (wasting storage).

Another factor is that game developers need to pay Denuvo. This is not an inconsiderable cost. Piracy prevention is supposed to recoup these costs, but this only happens if Denuvo’s protection is effective. If it isn’t, Denuvo may not pay for itself.

For paying customers, Denuvo is a technology that saps performance, limits hardware changes (by temporarily locking owners out), and elongates loading times. In other words, paying customers are getting a worse experience because of the possibility of piracy. This means that many paying customers feel like they are being punished for the potential actions of others.

Denuvo begone!

While the game has multiplayer, I’d expect most players to play Star Wars: Galactic Racer for its single-player campaign. Given the game’s fast-paced nature, any potential performance issues caused by Denuvo would be especially annoying. Right now, it is unknown if Fuse Games and Secret Mode intend to use an alternative DRM or have no plans to replace Denuvo. All we know is that all references to Denuvo have been removed from the game’s Steam page.

Below are the minimum PC system requirements for Star Wars: Galactic Racer. On PC, the game will support Nvidia DLSS 4.5, including DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

Minimum:

• • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600
  • Memory: 12 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia RTX 2060 / Intel Arc A580 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB
  • Storage: 50 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD Required

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is due to be released later this year on PC and consoles.

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