Denuvo cracks change performance for better and worse. Tested Empress Performance & Loading Times.

Summary

This video script explores the impact of piracy on game performance, particularly focusing on the effects of cracking software like Denuvo and the use of protection tools like VMProtect and The Meter. Empress, a notorious cracker, claims to have improved performance in some games but often falls short, with performance degradation attributed to the use of these protection tools. The video also highlights instances where legitimate games outperform cracked versions, emphasizing the anti-consumer nature of heavy DRM implementations.

Takeaways

• 🔒 DRM (Digital Rights Management) like Denuvo is often removed from games to compare performance between protected and unprotected builds.
• 💾 Most game cracks do not improve performance as they only bypass or trick DRM, leaving the game to authenticate the installation which can still impact performance.
• 👑 Empress is a group known for creating cracks that sometimes enhance game performance by altering the game's protection mechanisms.
• 🧐 Empress's release notes detail specific performance improvements they claim to have made, such as in 'Resident Evil Village' where they patched out Capcom's DRM.
• 🚫 Some Empress cracks have been found to perform worse than the legitimate game, possibly due to the use of anti-debugging and obfuscation tools like VMProtect.
• 🛡️ VMProtect is a software protection that can slow down game performance, especially if poorly implemented, as seen in 'Player Unknown's Battlegrounds'.
• 📉 The performance of games cracked by Empress varies; some show improvements while others suffer, depending on how they implemented protection tools.
• 🎮 'Star Wars Battlefront 2' and 'Deathloop' are examples of games where Empress's cracks showed better performance compared to the legitimate versions.
• 📚 The script mentions that the channel discussing these topics is not monetized and does not receive revenue from advertisements on YouTube.
• ⏱️ Empress's crack of 'Assassin's Creed Odyssey' loaded faster but performed worse in gameplay compared to the legitimate version, indicating a trade-off.

Q & A

What is the common expectation regarding performance in pirated games compared to legitimately purchased ones?

Pirates generally do not expect better performance than buyers because cracks usually do not remove the game's protection, which can affect performance.

How do most cracks typically handle a game's DRM protection?

Most cracks bypass the game's protection or trick it into thinking the installation is legitimate, so the game still has to spend time and resources on authentication.

What is the role of Empress in creating exceptions to the general performance expectations of pirated games?

Empress has made notable exceptions by creating cracks that change a game's protection in ways that affect performance, as detailed in their release notes.

What specific performance improvement did Empress claim in the release notes for Resident Evil Village?

Empress claimed that they fixed in-game shutters and removed Capcom DRM entry points, resulting in improved performance, which was verified by Digital Foundry.

How does the use of the meter or VM protect by Empress potentially impact the performance of cracked games?

The meter and VM protect can slow down the execution of code, as they virtualize it, which might negatively impact performance compared to the legitimate game.

What was the performance difference found in the video when comparing the Empress crack of Man of Medan to the legitimate version?

The Empress crack of Man of Medan had significantly worse performance than the legitimate game, contradicting Empress's claim of improved performance.

What is the significance of the statement from the meter's documentation regarding performance in cracked games?

The statement indicates that the meter can cause performance degradation if used in critical parts of an application that execute frequently, suggesting it could affect the performance of Empress cracks.

How did the implementation of VM protect affect the performance of Ubisoft games, as mentioned in the video?

The implementation of VM protect by Ubisoft was blamed for tanking the game's performance by 30 to 40%, as noted by Voxy, a Bulgarian Denuvo cracker.

What was the performance outcome of the Empress crack for Star Wars Battlefront 2 compared to the legitimate version?

The Empress crack for Star Wars Battlefront 2 performed significantly better in both average and minimum frames per second, and also loaded the main menu faster.

How did the Empress crack of Assassin's Creed Odyssey compare to the legitimate version in terms of loading times and performance?

The Empress crack of Assassin's Creed Odyssey was significantly faster at loading the main menu but slower in average and minimum frames per second.

What was the performance impact of removing Denuvo and VM protect from Assassin's Creed Origins, as tested in the video?

The crack that removed Denuvo and VM protect from Assassin's Creed Origins showed faster loading times and improved performance, as tested four years ago and re-evaluated in 2024.