Does Zelda Tears of the Kingdom have Denuvo?
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Denuvo is a controversial anti-cheat and digital rights management software known for causing performance issues. That said, it seems that many developers have started steering away from using Denuvo. Nintendo, on the other hand, has been up in the air about it.
With the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, many have wondered if the game will have Denuvo. What does that mean for those who want to mod the game if it does? What does it mean for those who want to run the game on PC? Does The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have Denuvo?
Is there Denuvo in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
Denuvo does appear to be in TotK and based on Nintendo’s track record of using the software, it most likely won’t. Older games including Breath of the Wild (BotW) and Xenoblade don’t contain the software, allowing players to enjoy the games on PC. Not even Pokémon Sword and Shield used the anti-piracy software.
Of course, due to the leaks that have happened, Nintendo may end up singing a different tune when it comes to Tears of the Kingdom. Breath of the Wild mods were very popular when the game first released and are still popular to this day with many using emulation software to play BotW on their PCs.
Other Switch games have not used the software, making it very unlikely that newer Nintendo Switch games will use it. PC Gamers should still be able to enjoy Tears of the Kingdom on their PCs shortly after launch.
While it will be likely that Tears of the Kingdom won’t have Denuvo, it isn’t guaranteed since it is one of the more high-profile Nintendo releases. You could even argue that this game is more anticipated than Metroid Dread was.
Others have reported that trailers for Tears of the Kingdom have shown off new physics interactions and have stated that using Denuvo could lead to significant issues. Link doesn’t need more issues after having the Master Sword break.
Yuzu and Ryujinx are great open-source Switch emulators. PC Gamer spoke to Bunnei, the lead developer at Yuzu who stated:
“We anticipate that there will be significant attention on Switch emulation in the lead-up to the TotK release. However, we are not concerned as emulating the Switch is completely legal and we have successfully navigated many high-profile Nintendo releases in the past.”
What does Denuvo do to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
Denuvo prevents players from being able to emulate or alter the integrity of game files. It makes it harder to mod the games that they love. In the past, players have run Switch emulation on their PCs thanks to Nintendo not using the software.
In recent years, other companies such as Capcom have stopped using Denuvo anti-emulation software, leading to a better experience for those who wish to mod Resident Evil Village.
Denuvo is known for causing problems in games and may have partially been responsible for the poor release conditions of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The software has even been shown to cause major issues in the past.
