Now here is a pleasant surprise. Yesterday, Square Enix removed the controversial Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Octopath Traveler 2. Octopath Traveller 2 came out in February 2023, meaning that it took Square Enix around six months to remove it.
Square Enix is one of the few publishers that has been removing Denuvo from its games. For instance, The Diofield Chronicle, VALKYRIE ELYSIUM, TRIANGLE STRATEGY and Forspoken no longer use it. The first Octopath Traveler is also no longer using the controversial anti-tamper tech. So yeah, at least Square Enix is doing something right.
For what it’s worth, STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY Remake will be using Denuvo at launch. Given SE’s track record, though, we can expect the publisher to remove it in six months or in a year.
Octopath Traveller 2 is an RPG, featuring 2D HD character sprites with 3D environments. In June 2023, Square Enix stated that the game has sold over one million units on all platforms.
At this point, I’m certain that Final Fantasy XVI will also have Denuvo when it launches on PC. And, surprisingly enough, Final Fantasy XV still has Denuvo. I don’t know why SE has not removed it from it, but that’s a bummer.
Speaking of Denuvo, Katsuhiro Harada claimed that Tekken 8 will not be using this controversial anti-tamper tech. Denuvo had introduced some performance issues/stutters in Tekken 7, so this may be the reason why Bandai Namco won’t be using it in T8.
Anyway, it’s good that Octopath Traveler 2 no longer uses Denuvo. And let’s just hope that even more publishers will follow Square Enix’s example!
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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