LogInWarhorse has officially confirmed that KCD2 will be shipped without the controversial DRM.
Last month, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II's Steam forums got flooded with negative comments lambasting the upcoming game and its developers over their purported plans to ship the long-awaited sequel with Denuvo, a controversial DRM technology that makes piracy harder but can hinder game performance.
The rumor emerged when Vernon V., a customer support representative from Plaion, the parent company of KCD2's developer Warhorse and publisher Deep Silver, appeared to confirm that the game would include Denuvo. This, along with Deep Silver's 2019 comments about their policy of shipping games with Denuvo, the negative reputation the software in question has, and the lack of any official statement from the developers, led many to believe the rumor, prompting criticism of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and the cancellation of pre-orders.
Warhorse
After several weeks of uncertainty surrounding the subject matter, the developers have stepped forward and addressed it directly, putting the rumor to rest by officially announcing that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II will not include Denuvo.
In a recent two-hour Twitch stream showcasing KCD2's gameplay and performance, Warhorse Studios' Global PR Manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, also known as Sir Tobi, confirmed that the game will launch on PC without the DRM, urging the community to "bury that thing and never ever talk about it anymore." He also encouraged fans to wait for official statements from Warhorse if a similar situation arises again, and to treat any rumors as false unless confirmed by the developers.
"There were some discussions, of course, there was some misalignment, there was some misinformation, but at the end of the day, there won't be any Denuvo at all, and with that, I would like you to close the case already," Sir Tobi said during the stream. "That is something you should really remember, as long as Warhorse doesn't announce anything, it's not true. That was the case with the announcement of KCD2, that would be with the specs, and that is, for instance, right now with the DRM."
With the rumor now officially debunked, the only question that remains is whether the screenshot that sparked the controversy was fake, or if Warhorse decided to remove the DRM in response to the overwhelming backlash to avoid losing their loyal Kingdom Come: Deliverance fanbase. Either way, the only thing that matters is that Denuvo won't be present in the sequel, meaning the game's Steam forums are likely to return to normal in the near future.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is arriving on February 11, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. You can learn more and pre-order the game by clicking this link.
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