There is currently some degree of backlash from the community with regard to publishers and studios inserting DRM software into games, which often comes at the detriment of performance. The biggest culprit is Denuvo which caused Deathloop to be review bombed on Steam due to many believing it was the cause of the game's frame rate issues. While it apparently transpired that this was not the case, the controversial DRM software is known to cause problems, and it appears as though it's also creating issues with the latest Intel processor.
According to a recent review of the Intel i9-12900K, the CPU is not performing well alongside Denuvo, as it's been noted that some games are struggling to play as long as DRM is a part of the product. In total, it seems as though 32 games that have the anti-piracy tech are not playing ball on the 12900K, brought on by Denuvo. This has been confirmed by Intel itself, saying that the company has not yet got around to rectifying the problem, in which big titles like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla are having gameplay performance issues when running on the new processor.
The Intel i9-12900K was launched recently, and while it's receiving some good praise, the fact that more than 30 DRM-laden games are incompatible with it is no doubt going to cause untold issues for many gamers. The company has said that it is working with Ubisoft, who are known for using Denuvo on their releases, to create a fix. When this fix is likely to roll out is not mentioned, but it's likely that Intel will work quickly to get the problem ironed out, as it's only going to hurt sales, as well as be another nail in the coffin for Denuvo.
It's reasons like this that are causing the community at large to have nothing but contempt for DRM, to such an extent that some studios have started removing it post-launch. It's been reported that the likes of Shadow of the Tomb Raider runs better without Denuvo, and although new titles like Back 4 Blood feature the anti-piracy software, there does seem to be some backtracking from some companies, especially given the controversy.
Whatever the case may be, Denuvo's anti-theft solution is extremely unpopular, especially among gamers. This latest development involving the new Intel CPU is just another example of how it causes issues for games, so it might be time for studios and publishers to rethink their eagerness to ship titles with it.
Source: PC Gamer