What happens if a publisher never releases a non-denuvo build, just withdraws it from the store after the denuvo contract ends? If their patent is to be believed, there is no way to run a game without information from the server, since tiny parts of the exe are removed and only sent when the ticket is requested, and no way to crack it after the fact. Does the game just disappear if it was never cracked? How can somebody live with the fact that part of culture just disappeared, with the fact that a work of art just got lost forever because a corporation decided that profits were more important than maintaining a work of art? The existence of DRM is reprehensible, it only facilitates the restriction of works of art for monetary gain. The growth of human civilization can be attributed in no small part to the free flow of information. Now that information is restricted, not to protect anybody, simply because corporations decided that preventing a tiny group of people from accessing that media without a paying the bridge troll was more important than allowing art to flow freely.

[–] Uriel238@lemmy.fmhy.ml 16 points 1 year ago

Does the game just disappear if it was never cracked?

Considering there are tons of games that are no longer supported, the answer is yes, the game customer is left to the elements when the publisher decides they're done. And with the current DMCA, we're not even legally allowed to break DRM for legal purposes (such as to play games we bought when the DRM is no longer supported.)

Curiously, it does send a message for the determined end user that legality is only for suckers (or for companies who have to operate within the constraints of licensing). Curiously, Windows 10 and 11 depend on the ignorance of upper management regarding the degree to which Microsoft has surveillance access, since companies don't get to medium-sized without having a few skeletons in the accounting closet. I'm surprised so few companies haven't switched to Linux Red Hat (which has a similar support package) but then Red Hat is going through its own scandals right now.

Anyway, if your game is popular, you can expect the old version to be supported until the redux comes out. If it's a niche game produced by a company that the publisher bought a while ago and would like to forget, yes, it'll disappear into the aether as you watch.