Nowadays, publishers want to do what they can to ensure their IPs are protected from piracy or make sure players don't find ways to cheat while playing online. With this comes DRM software, which is built into many, if not most, modern AAA video games. However, they are often considered quite controversial by the community. Denuvo is probably one of the most notorious, with Back 4 Blood being one of the latest games to get the anti-tamper software. However, some studios do get rid of DRM, and it looks as though the last two Tomb Raider games have had Denuvo removed in a recent update.
According to a report, both Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which came out in 2015 and 2018, respectively, have been patched, fixing a couple of issues with each title, but also removing the anti-tamper tech. The report doesn't say quite why it's been removed, but it will likely make many fans of the games happy, as things like Denuvo are unpopular, often resulting in games running at less than optimal.
On top of that, the update, which went live yesterday, also brings the latest version of Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling, or DLSS, to both Rise and Shadow. While the former game already had support for the upscaling technology, it was given an upgrade to the newest iteration. DLSS was recently promised for the Tomb Raider games, as well as for the remaster of the Crysis Trilogy and Baldurs Gate 3. It's unclear why Rise of the Tomb Raider is receiving upscaling given that it's a few years old at this point, but fans of it will no doubt be pleased for the additional visual boost.
For those who don't know much about it, DLSS is an algorithm developed by graphics company Nvidia and released in 2018. It works by redrawing pixels on the fly to give the appearance of a higher native resolution. Nvidia has been planning to roll out DLSS for more games, with the aforementioned ones being some of the latest to have the upscaling treatment.
Overall, the removal of the anti-tamper software will be good news for many. With the likes of Deathloop's stuttering issues being blamed on Denuvo, though it was apparently not responsible after all, it's a piece of software that is not usually welcomed by the community. It will be interesting to see if other developers will follow suit and start removing the unpopular DRM tech.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox One X/S.
Source: DSO Gaming