Bethesda have stated id Software looking into reports of crashes and performance issues, after Denuvo Anti-Cheat was added to Doom Eternal.
In case you missed our prior coverage, Irdeto, the software company that owns Denuvo, announced Denuvo Anti-Cheat, and added it to Doom Eternal.
For those unfamiliar, Denuvo DRM has been criticized for allegations of its effectiveness. These include the need for a constant and uninterrupted online connection even on single-player games, and allegations of causing severe performance inhibition.
Concerns were further exacerbated due to the software being installed at kernel-level. Riot Games’ Valorant drew criticisms for their kernel-based anti-cheat software, due to concerns with privacy, and granting greater access to a user’s PC if the game was hacked. The software was later updated to grant users greater control over when it was active.
Now, Bethesda have tweeted that the developers (id Software) are investigating reports of crashes and other issues after the recent update.
“The development team is investigating reports of crashes and performance issues for some PC users after applying Update 1 in @DOOM Eternal. We will provide additional information as soon as it is available.”
In addition to replies to that tweet, the reaction on Steam has been furious. Over 5,000 negative reviews (out of a total of 52,549 reviews) dropping the game’s overall review score to “mixed”.
Along with general outrage [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and more] complaints range from claims of refunds being denied [1, 2] (though some users have claimed they were refunded), firewalls blocking the installation of the anti-cheat software as malware [1, 2, 3], allegedly breaking anti-consumer laws of several nations, and making the game unplayable on Linux (through third-party software).
Due to most users having played the game for many hours, most seem to be being denied refunds on those grounds. However, this may change with the outcry from the recent update. What happens next will depend on how idSoftware deal with the slew of complaints and bug reports they are getting.
What do you think, sound off in the comments below!
Doom Eternal is available via Windows PC (via Bethesda, and Steam), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and 2020 for Nintendo Switch. In case you missed it, you can find our review (prior to the installation of Denuvo Anti-Cheat) here (we recommend it!)
Image: Steam
