Infamous anti-piracy provider Denuvo is ready to expand its technology to protect Nintendo Switch games from bootlegging.
On Wednesday, the company introduced "Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection," which is designed to prevent unofficial PC ports of Switch games that can be played with emulators.
“Even if a game is protected against piracy on its PC version, the released version on Switch can be emulated from day one and played on PC, therefore bypassing the strong protections offered on the PC version,” Denuvo said in the announcement. “This can happen with any of the numerous games available on Switch.”
The piracy can lead to lost sales for game developers. So Denuvo is responding with the Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection system, which it hopes will be adopted across the industry. The company also says the anti-piracy technology can be added to a Switch title with minimal fuss.
“As with all other Denuvo solutions, the technology integrates seamlessly into the build toolchain with no impact on the gaming experience. It then allows for the insertion of checks into the code, which blocks gameplay on emulators,” the company said.
However, consumers may cringe at the news. Denuvo’s anti-piracy and anti-cheat technology has a reputation in the PC community for adding bloat to games, which can lead to performance hits. The company’s digital rights management system has also temporarily prevented some PC games from running due to glitches in connecting to Denuvo third-party servers.
Gamers on Twitter have responded to Denuvo’s announcement with scorn. “Oh cool, the software that makes high end PC's run like dog**** and doesn't actually do anything to curb piracy is now being implemented on the comically underpowered Nintendo Switch, what a very smart and intelligent idea,” wrote one user.
Denuvo made the announcement in the middle of Gamescom, the video game industry show currently happening in Germany. So Denuvo’s parent Irdeto is probably marketing the anti-piracy tech to Switch game developers at the show. We’ll have to see if any of them decide to use it.