Contrary to what was suggested by some back-end Steam updates earlier this week, Bethesda has now confirmed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will not feature the controversial anti-piracy software Denuvo. That makes Bethesda the latest publisher to enjoy the free PR win that comes with saying no to Denuvo, and I can’t imagine this paints a great picture of the DRM maker’s efforts to rehabilitate its image.
Earlier this week, third-party tracking site SteamDB recorded a change to the files in the version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle uploaded to Steam. This change referenced Denuvo, and players understandably took this as an indication that the game would feature the DRM tech – something that’s usually noted on a game’s Steam page before pre-orders are taken, but was not disclosed in this case. Apparently that’s because the launch version of the Indy game won’t have Denuvo after all.
“Indiana Jones and the Great Circle does not include Denuvo,” Bethesda explains on Twitter. “It was only in review builds for leak precautions.”
Bethesda clearly has an agreement with Denuvo to use the tech to protect the game’s review build, but I can’t help but wonder how the people at the DRM company feel about another major publisher advertising ‘no Denuvo’ as a selling point to fans. After all, this just happened with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and both these incidents come alongside Denuvo’s own campaign to change the hearts and minds of the gamers who hate it. Judging by the celebratory comments under Bethesda’s tweet, I’m not sure that campaign is fully going to play.