(Credit: Marathon via Wikimedia)
In further proof that it's hard to ever truly defeat piracy, one of the most controversial game-protection systems, Denuvo, has finally been cracked wide open, with all games it's currently "protecting" now available for free via pirate platforms.
As Tom's Hardware reports, a series of hypervisor-based bypasses allowed Denuvo games to be breached in hours, though publishers have imposed new restrictions to try to get around them.
Denuvo digital rights management (DRM) software launched with FIFA 15 in 2014 to make it harder for pirates to crack games by acting as a secondary layer of defense. It wasn't foolproof, but it was often enough to stop games from being cracked for months or even years after release, severely limiting the financial impact of game piracy on big game releases.
But over the years, Denuvo's security measures have been thwarted time and again by dedicated hackers, and in 2026, they've been blown wide open. Whereas traditional Denuvo cracks might takes week of complex, time-consuming work, the new virtualization method tricks Denuvo into thinking it's running on a legitimate version of the game, making cracking new games using the DRM comparatively trivial and rapid. At the time of writing, all Denuvo-protected games are allegedly freely available.
Users who leveraged the new DenuvOwO cracking methods had to disable several Windows security systems to run the necessary code, potentially leaving them vulnerable to attacks or malware. However, the effects are undeniable. New games using Denuvo, like Crimson Desert and Resident Evil: Requiem, were breached in just a few hours, and new Denuvo game cracks for older releases are dropping every day.
Unsurprisingly, Denuvo developer Irdeto and game publishers are working on fixes and workarounds for the problem, although they run the risk of angering players who purchased the game legally, as much as thwarting pirates. A number of 2K Games titles, including NBA 2K25, NBA 2K26, and Marvel's Midnight Suns, will now require an online check-in every two weeks to continue playing. That's whether you're playing single player offline or online multiplayer modes.
Irdeto told TorrentFreak that it's "already working on updated security versions for games impacted by hypervisor bypasses. For players, performance will not be compromised by these strengthened security measures."
PCMag does not support game piracy in any facet. Not only is it illegal, but you also risk downloading malware and other nefarious software.