The developer of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has confirmed the game does not feature controversial anti-piracy tech Denuvo, or indeed any DRM at all.
During a Twitch stream to reveal gameplay of the hotly anticipated Medieval open-world RPG, Warhorse Studios PR chief Tobias Stolz-Zwilling issued some strong words about the many posts and messages the developer continues to receive about Denuvo playing a part of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
“I can tell you right now the exact situation,” he said. “The exact situation is that KCD2 will not have Denuvo in there, it will not have any DRM system at all. We never confirmed it. There were some discussions of course. There was some misalignment, there was some misinformation, but at the end of the day there won’t be any Denuvo at all.
“With that, I would like you to close the case already. Stop texting under every post we do that Denuvo is in the game, because it’s not. We never announced… we never said it will be there. As I said, a bit of a misunderstanding.
“That is something you should really remember, as long as Warhorse doesn’t announce anything it’s not true.
“Let’s bury that thing and let’s never ever talk about it any more. What we can talk about though is the game.”
This all stems from an apparent email sent by publisher Plaion that appeared to confirm Denuvo would be used in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Clearly, though, that is not the case.
Denuvo is a controversial system used by video game developers and publishers to stem the tide of video game piracy by, they hope, pushing back the release of cracked versions of their games by sometimes weeks, maybe months, and in some cases, indefinitely. From a publisher perspective, Denuvo helps to prevent lost sales and revenue it might have received if those who pirate a video game at launch would have otherwise bought it.
However, Denuvo is often criticized by PC gamers for potentially affecting video game performance and even reducing the life-span of solid-state drives (SSDs). Denuvo has repeatedly denied the claims. In 2021, the tech experts at Digital Foundry found the pirate version of Resident Evil Village actually improved performance. Capcom later patched the game.
Indeed, we’ve seen some developers even announce that their games won’t launch with Denuvo, much to the delight of PC gamers. In October, BioWare confirmed Dragon Age: The Veilguard wouldn’t have third-party DRM of any kind, including Denuvo.
As for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, it’s set to launch February 11, 2025. Check out IGN’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – The First Preview for more.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.