What is Denuvo in Civilization 7? And why are fans in an uproar?

No matter what sort of games you’re a fan of, chances are that if you bring up the name “Denuvo” in a conversation with other players, you’ll kickstart a debate about piracy, anti-tamper software, and game performance.

Ever since Civilization 7’s Advanced Access period started on Feb. 5/6, Denuvo and DRM software have been hot topics in the community. Here’s what it means and why potential Civ 7 players are frustrated with the inclusion.

Why are players upset about Denuvo being in Civilization 7?

As confirmed on the game’s official Steam page, Denuvo Anti-Tamper is in Civ 7. This is distinct from Denuvo’s Anti-cheat solution, which focuses predominantly on piracy and delaying people from cracking a game instead of in-game tampering.

The Irdeto website—the company behind Denuvo—features copy about the Anti-tamper tool. The copy promises, “We offer an industry-leading crack-free window without requiring an always-online connection,” highlighting the revenue boost the tool provides developers.

A number of Civ players are upset by Denuvo’s inclusion in the franchise’s newest addition due to concerns about performance. One fan calls the move “anti-consumer.”

In some cases, Denuvo is linked to poor game performance. It reportedly causes issues with load times, frame rates, and SSD lifespan, along with potential issues relating to internet connectivity and game activation. The tools also hinder modders’ attempts.

In terms of provable performance issues, various creators and outlets have made several tests over the years.

In 2018, PCGamer looked at Denuvo in the context of Final Fantasy 15, comparing and contrasting the non-Denuvo demo edition and full edition of the game using the tool. The author reported no meaningful performance issues that could be linked to Denuvo but estimated a 6.7 percent possible increase in load times.

Alongside this, a creator named Overlord Gaming found a list of games that had Denuvo removed by the developers post-launch and posted a video in 2024 comparing and contrasting the performance of both versions, replicating the conditions of the original copy as closely as possible, finding noticeable differences with load times and frame rates.

On the flip side, a 2019 piece by Ars Technica compared the Steam version of Batman: Arkham Knight (with Denuvo) and the Epic Games Store version (without Denuvo), checking the performance of both copies. This analysis found no meaningful issues or differences between the two.

In a 2024 interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, a Denuvo product manager discussed the possibility of providing data proving the company had no performance issues.

The product manager mentioned that to run tests to provide these statistics, they’d need permission from their customers to run the tests, that gamers would likely not believe the results as they would declare them “rigged,” and that they’d need to figure out third-party testing in their offices, potentially reaching out to a team like Digital Foundry to work with.

While Civ 7 is obviously very different from games like Arkham Knight, all of this is to say that reports vary on how much (or if) Denuvo tools affect games, looking at the Anti-tamper tech in particular, but that the community sentiment is negative and the level of trust in Denuvo from gamers is low.

Whether this is due to the impact on cracking games, modding, or performance depends on the game and community in question.

In the case of Civ 7, the predominant concern we came across while researching for this article is that the game will not run well and that the presence of Denuvo could have a negative impact on a player’s setup.

Despite the Irdeto site promising, “No in-game performance impact caused by the addition of anti-tamper,” alongside no impact on SSDs or the requirement for a permanent online connection, it appears that the Civ community is not convinced and that the presence of Denuvo may put some people off of the game for good.