Does Hogwarts Legacy utilize Denuvo anti-cheat system?

Hogwarts Legacy PC performance issues? You’re not alone…

Is your PC copy of Hogwarts Legacy having some unanticipated performance problems, despite your machine exceeding the minimum and/or recommended requirements to play the game? You’ll likely find that you’re far from the only one running into these kinds of issues. This just might be due, in large part, to the presence of Denuvo Anti-Tampering software.

Hogwarts Legacy uses Denuvo on Steam, as confirmed by the game listing

Denuvo, for those unfamiliar with the program, is a piece of anti-piracy software commonly employed in recent years by many AAA developers and publishers. In theory, it is entirely understandable why any developer or publisher would want to protect their financial investments and ensure their game gets as many physical and digital copies sold as possible before it inevitably gets illegally cracked and becomes accessible for illegal torrenting. However, in practice, Denuvo produces a plethora of unnecessary issues for legal owners as well.

Denuvo has been directly linked with framerate drops, stutter, screen tearing, crashes, and other gameplay issues that continue to severely impact the in-game experience of players, and this includes those currently playing Hogwarts Legacy. Naturally, many players have developed a deep-rooted resentment of Denuvo. While Avalanche Software has confirmed that they are presently aware of more than a few specific technical issues on their end currently affecting players, the more glaring issues bear enormous consistency in mannerism with those found in other games which utilized Denuvo.

Is Denuvo’s inclusion in Hogwarts Legacy a financial need, or financial greed?

Ultimately the responsibility for balancing the corporate need to combat piracy with the simultaneous duty to provide a fully-functional commercial product free of technical shortcomings begins and ends with both Avalanche Software and WB Games. Piracy is a serious issue that corporations have every right to address. However, as is so often the case, the ends do not always inherently justify the means.

The financial decision was made to implement a anti-piracy program known industry-wide for its well-documented calamitous effects on user performance, and seemingly not doing all that much to address these problems during the months of lead-up prior to the game’s launch. It is quite likely that, with enough public pressure to remove Denuvo, WB Games might eventually fold, especially if it’s long after the initial explosion of copies sold has died down to a stable recurring number. But for those hoping to commit to a full playthrough of Hogwarts Legacy on PC while it’s still the hot new item on shelves, you might do well to assume that Denuvo, —like the dark wizards that infest the village of Hogsmede and the surrounding countryside in Hogwarts Legacy — isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.