Death Stranding has been officially announced to release on PC in June. Alongside this, we have also learned that the game will be using Denuvo's DRM to prevent tampering of the product. There has been a ton of controversy regarding Denuvo and the impact it creates on PC games. Whenever someone makes the mention of Denuvo DRM, most PC gamers don't respond very well.
While being an anti-piracy tool, Denuvo has been shown to cause performance issues in some cases. PC games that immediately come to mind that were impacted by Denuvo are Batman Arkham Knight and Assassin's Creed Origins.
Denuvo, as a DRM company, understands that there is no piracy prevention tool that can stop games from being tampered with. However, it believes that DRM will protect the initial sales of the game. In 2018, a Denuvo spokesperson told Gamesindustry.biz that "games will be cracked at certain points; there is no uncrackable product. But what we do is protect the initial sales."
We also remember some AAA games like Middle Earth: Shadow of War that despite using Denuvo DRM, was cracked within 24 hours. Several other publishers have chosen to remove DRM from their games after some time, including Mass Effect: Andromeda, Rage 2, Devil May Cry 5, and Resident Evil 2 Remake.
The Steam page for Death Stranding states that the game will be protected by Denuvo DRM. However, the game is also launching on the Epic Games Store, where the DRM situation is currently unknown.
The PC version of Death Stranding is being published by 505 Games. If you buy the game on Steam, you can get special crossover promotional content that brings Death Stranding and Half-Life together. The PC version of the game will also come with some additional features like Photo Mode, uncapped framerates, and support for ultrawide resolutions.
Death Stranding initially launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in November 2019. The game garnered a mix of positive and not-so-positive reviews. I, however, thought that Death Stranding was a very unique concept for a video game, and I am eagerly waiting to get my hands on it when it launches on PC.
