Not even two days after the gaming community noticed Denuvo’s apparent presence in inZOI, KRAFTON’s soon-to-be-released life simulation game, and reacted with an uproar, the developers set a record for the speed of their response, officially confirming that the detested DRM was indeed present in the early access version and announcing that it would be removed from the final release, set to hit the shelves in less than 48 hours.
KRAFTON
The news comes from inZOI’s Producer and Game Director Hyungjun “Kjun” Kim, who stated on Discord that while they initially saw Denuvo as a way to ensure fairness for players who had legitimately purchased the game, community feedback made them reconsider, and after taking a closer look at player concerns, they quickly realized this approach didn’t align with player expectations and decided to remove the DRM.
“Our initial application of Denuvo on our main development build made it so that the inZOI: Creative Studio demo build, a branch from the main build, was also applied with the same anti-tamper,” Kjun wrote. “Unfortunately, we failed to properly inform our players of this application during the demo period, and we sincerely apologize for that oversight.
We understand that removing Denuvo increases the risk of the game being cracked and illegally distributed after release. At the same time, we believe it opens up a valuable opportunity: it allows inZOI to become more freely configurable – unlocking new ways for players to shape new experiences for other players. We believe enabling this freedom from the very beginning will lead to innovative and long-lasting enjoyment for the community.”
He added that the development team has realized Denuvo could have a greater negative impact on the player experience than they initially expected, assuring that they will continue to prioritize player feedback and make well-informed decisions throughout inZOI’s Early Access development.
“We want to sincerely apologize for not aligning more closely with player expectations on this sensitive issue. We regret the concern and confusion this has caused within the community, and we’re committed to rebuilding your trust as we move forward in developing the best possible experience.”
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