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Submitted via IRC for takyon
Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance
One of the biggest arguments against anti-piracy checks built into video games (commonly known as "digital rights management," or DRM) is that they punish paying customers with stuttering, loading times, and other detractive gameplay issues. While leading DRM vendor Denuvo has long claimed that its tools don't hamper video games, the stats keep piling up to suggest otherwise.
This week, in its third video on the topic, YouTube channel Overlord Gaming confirmed an additional six examples of improvements once Denuvo was patched out of recent games. The differences in performance range from marginal to noticeable. Yet in all cases, Overlord confirms a general trend of Denuvo impact in two key categories: loading times, and sporadic-yet-severe spikes in "frame time."
The latter issue emerges when a system struggles to render the next frame of animation in a video game, resulting in a pause far greater than the 16.67-millisecond standard found in "60 frames per second" action. Overlord Gaming once again found frame time spikes in the 100-, 200-, and even 400-millisecond ranges in every tested game that had Denuvo enabled. These rare-but-severe dips subsequently went away in each game's post-Denuvo version.
All six tested games included loading times that were anywhere between 50-80 percent longer with Denuvo enabled. Overlord's tests made sure to reload and retest both pre- and post-Denuvo versions a few times, to see how leaving any information or assets in a system's RAM might affect subsequent reboots, and to confirm that post-Denuvo versions weren't unfairly benefiting from game elements remaining in the testing system.
It is important to note that for a long time, after cracks, developers remove Denuvo DRM from their games, which seems to imply that they know full well it hinders game performance.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 27 2018, @08:07PM (8 children)
I changed my video game habits a few years ago. I stopped buying day 1. Do I miss out on anything? Well no, not really. I do not game with other people. I have such an expansive catalog of stuff already it is no big deal. I do however gain quite a bit. I usually wait about a year.
1) price. After a year the price is usually half of what it was on launch day. Sometimes even better if the game is perceived as a 'bomb'.
2) DLC packed in. Many times the DLC that they nickle and dime you with is bundled up into a 'game of the year' edition, AND costs less.
3) Game breaking bugs are usually already fixed. If they are not they are getting drilled in the reviews and forums. So you can avoid a buggy mess nicely. With the satisfaction that the dev cares a bit (or not).
4) DRM removal. Many times the DRM is gone already. If they want to get onto GoG (which many do). So I am not being treated as a criminal on day 1.
5) proper walkthroughs have been made. Some of the games I play take a bit of time. I get stuck here and there. So a good walkthrough can really help.
6) Good stuff sticks, crap fades. Good games people are still talking about. Meh games people forget about. So you can usually get decent games that have been vetted.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Thursday December 27 2018, @11:47PM
I lost my gaming zeal on a C-64, thanks to Electronic Arts and their head-banging DRM.
Although I did start up an informal little business realigning drives knocked out of alignment by their software. I considered a copy of a cracked game fair exchange for my services.
I had about the same respect for EA as I would have for a mechanic slipping valve grinding powder into oil changes.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday December 28 2018, @01:47AM (3 children)
So many fantastic multiplayer games become essentially unfun because the servers are empty and there are not enough people to re-live the game in its prime. Some multiplayer games can also become unfun if they get mega popular. Draws the Zerg. Just trolls, trash, and toxicity.
If it's a multiplayer experience then you have to be there day 1. Bugs and all, drink it up. Especially if it's an MMO or mod. MMO content is made with groups of people in mind. It sucks being the only person wandering through low level lands because 99.8% of the pop is max level. Mods are short lived and either fizzle out or blossom into completely different games. Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Natural Selection are good examples. Each was a mod that became a full fledged game (that are still played today). But being there at the beginning and seeing it evolve was incredible.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @02:09AM
I gave up being griefed years ago for minor mistakes in a .... game. I also stopped having time to watch that sort of thing grow. It is interesting, I am not saying it is bad. I am saying I just do not do that anymore. The benefits for me were rather minor.
The empty realms show what is worth hanging around on... Bragging rights are 'nice' but gain you little.
The trolls and griefers are always there. One game I joined into I was being yelled at within 20 seconds. I had JUST started playing the game (as in I had just installed it) and had no idea what the keybindings were at all. The game had been out a whole 2 weeks. Yeah that was 'fun'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @11:09AM (1 child)
if the multiplayer dies after just a year, then it's not a game I want to be playing anyway.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday January 02 2019, @05:49PM
Then you'll probably never experience an indie multiplayer game. The Ship and Air Buccaneers were both incredibly fun and unique. Low player pops cause a negative feedback loop that cause more and more people to quit over time. There are also situations where the match matching servers went offline from low usage, effectively killing it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2400/The_Ship_Murder_Party/ [steampowered.com]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/223630/AirBuccaneers/ [steampowered.com]
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @12:28PM
I just bought a PS4. There's plenty of games around for it, some of them quite cheap. I haven't needed one. Now I'm looking through the catalog of games to play.
I've stopped buying PC games. It's a load of horse shit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 28 2018, @02:57PM
I've gotten into the habit of when I see something on sale with Steam, I hop over to GoG to see if I can get it there.
I like the DRM-freedom that I get with GoG.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday January 08 2019, @10:10AM
7) Better graphics drivers and hardware giving you better overall performance.