And another one bites the dust. Square Enix has just released a new update for Final Fantasy 16 that removes the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. Final Fantasy 16 came out on PC in September 2024, meaning that it took around five to six months for SE to remove it.
Final Fantasy 16 is a game that I thoroughly enjoyed. Its setting was great and, compared to other titles that end in a cliffhanger, it has a proper ending. No DLC bait, no sequel bait. This is also more of an action-oriented RPG, without any major tactical strategies.
FF16 also supports NVIDIA’s MFG. I’ve tried it and the game can be enjoyed at 8K on an NVIDIA RTX 5090. At 4K, on the same GPU, you’ll get super high framerates without any major input lag issues. And, since this was a really demanding game when it came out, a lot of you will rely on both NVIDIA DLSS 4 Super Resolution and Frame Gen.
From what I remember, FF16 did not suffer from any major stutters. So, I don’t expect the Denuvo-free version to run better. FF XVI was mostly a GPU-bound title. And, in those games, Denuvo has very little impact.
The removal of Denuvo from an SE game should not come as a surprise. After all, Square Enix has removed it from a lot of its titles. For instance, the publisher has removed it from games like The Diofield Chronicle, VALKYRIE ELYSIUM, TRIANGLE STRATEGY, LIVE A LIVE and Forspoken. Moreover, both Octopath Traveler and its sequel no longer use it. And, in May 2024, SE removed it from Star Ocean The Second Story R.
As we’ve reported, other companies have also removed Denuvo from several of their titles. In March 2023, KRAFTON removed Denuvo from The Callisto Protocol. NEOWIZ has also removed it from its Souls-like game, Lies of P. In October 2024, Gearbox has also removed it from Homeworld 3.
And that’s not all. Bethesda’s Wolfenstein Youngblood, Ghostwire: Tokyo and Doom Eternal no longer have it. Warner Bros has also removed it from Mortal Kombat 11. Then we have Bandai Namco who has removed it from Tekken 7 and NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER.
As I’ve already said, Square Enix shows how publishers should be using Denuvo. Yes, you can use it to protect your games during their launch period. However, there is no point in using it after six or twelve months. After that period, it can only harm your customers. So, the best thing then is to simply remove it.
And there you have it. Another game that is no longer plagued by Denuvo. And I know. Some of you will sail the seas to try it. However, if you end up liking it, purchase it to show Square Enix that it’s on the right track.
Have fun!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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