Tekken 8 has yet to be given a release date, but while we wait for it to launch, the game’s director has said that it hopefully won’t be bundled with the controversial Denuvo DRM software.
Strangely forward-thinking for a AAA title
In a recent post on Twitter, Katsuhiro Harada, who’s been involved with the Tekken franchise since the beginning, has said he has “no plans to introduce Denuvo” to the game.
This will be good news for fans, but it’s tough to say whether publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment will be able to honor the director’s words.
At the time of writing, the Steam page for Tekken 8 doesn’t show that there will be Denuvo or any other third-party DRM tech, so it won’t be part of the game when it does release. While mostly associated with PC gaming, Denuvo has also been introduced for PS5.
It’s become pretty much the industry standard these days for publishers and developers to feature anti-theft/anti-tamper software as part of their games. This is primarily to protect them from copyright infringement or potential hacking.
However, they’ve also become a bit of a thorn in the collective sides of gamers. Denuvo, in particular, is often blamed for poor performance.
Indeed, one person on Twitter said that the last thing a fighting game like Tekken 8 needs is something that could potentially cause it to lose frames during play.
In fact, studios have been known to remove Denuvo post-launch. Games that have had the unpopular DRM tech removed include Resident Evil: Village, Dying Light 2, Hitman, Mortal Kombat 11, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and many more, according to this source.
As such, many will remain hopeful that Harada will be able to keep Denuvo and or other DRM software well away from Tekken 8.
