What effect could this have on gaming?

Nintendo has always been known as a video game company that gets particularly tough on any kind of copyright infringement. Denuvo’s admission to the Nintendo Developer Portal is arguably the next step in the fight against piracy and emulation. But the implementation could also have consequences for gamers who only want to play their games on Nintendo Switch. We explain the most important points about Denuvo copy protection on Nintendo Switch.

Denuvo is Irdeto’s copy protection (DRM – Digital Rights Management) software that makes it difficult to manipulate files. This is intended to prevent circumvention of protection measures – for example when emulating video games.

Denuvo aims to make hacking games more difficult and accessible. Especially when a game is released, it is very important for manufacturers that their games not be copied in order to generate as much sales as possible. And Denuvo should help with that.

So the software is already used in many AAA video games – but it is not very popular in the gaming arena. Because to validate a video game, Denuvo needs a great deal of computing power. More on that later.

the Nintendo developer portal (NDP) provides middleware and tools that developers can use to work on their games. This includes the Unitiy Engine or Nintendo Dev Interface developed by Nintendo itself, which aims to make it easier to program the Switch.

The newest addition to this portal now is Denuvo from Irdeto. Developers can now use Video Game Firewall to protect their games. “Denuvo is the first security partner added to the portal with which developers can now access Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection. A revolutionary technology to protect games launched on Nintendo Switch from piracy.” says in the ad.

The announcement states that Denuvo on Nintendo Switch will be used primarily to prevent emulation of Switch games on PC. Until now, games were often available as ripped versions for PC for free shortly after their release.

Thus players who own the original copy of the game are in a legal gray area. For a long time, a copy of a game was considered a backup copy – that is, a backup in case the original was damaged.

However, for video game companies, this is a duplicate of their product that infringes copyright. Naturally, this process conflicted with their interest in selling as many copies of the game as possible.

Denuvo on the Switch can put an end to large-scale game emulation now. However, this assumes that developers are already using this protection. Because this is not mandatory. NDP middleware is open to all developers, but it is not necessary to use it.

While this first point only affects gamers’ simulations, Denuvo’s implementation on Switch could have another effect. As mentioned earlier, Denuvo needs a great deal of computing power to function. This may be missing to allow the game to run properly.

Frame rate in particular suffers as a result. Tests showThat a game that has Denuvo activated has a much worse performance than a game that doesn’t have it. This has led game studios to use it After that copy protection is out of the game to remove.

in Threads reddit, where adding Denuvo to NDP is discussed, exactly these concerns are expressed: that games that use copy protection will perform worse in the future. Because Nintendo itself should take advantage of this protection.

Nintendo is one video game company that takes a particularly strong stance against all forms of copyright infringement. This goes from mod projects where fans can create multiplayer modes to Zelda: Breath of the Wild I wanted to add, to the simulators that are not allowed to be offered on Steam, a hacker named Bowser, who got into jail for the first time and ended up paying to the end of his life.

Since Nintendo lives off the pure image of its brands more than all other game studios, it is especially careful that no one else can make money through the image of world-famous characters or damage their reputation.

8 games no one expected on Nintendo Switch: