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Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

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Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#31

Post by jsheard »

metalcrow wrote: post #30
jsheard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My vague understanding is that Denuvo generates many redundant diverging paths through the executable, which are chosen at runtime based on pieces of the users hardware signature. The keys you get from the server only work for the paths your hardware is supposed to follow, so if you take those keys to a different machine it will branch in different ways and crash when it's not able to decrypt that path. That redundan…

That makes sense, but how are these paths encrypted? If it's at runtime, you should be able to just not encrypt them. If it's at install time, do they generate a custom encrypted exe just for you per-download?

It's all done ahead of time when the game is packaged by the developer. The executable you download contains every encrypted path that might be executed, but the authentication handshake only gives you the keys for a subset of those.

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#32

Post by Culonavirus »

jsheard wrote: post #31
metalcrow wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense, but how are these paths encrypted? If it's at runtime, you should be able to just not encrypt them. If it's at install time, do they generate a custom encrypted exe just for you per-download?

It's all done ahead of time when the game is packaged by the developer. The executable you download contains every encrypted path that might be executed, but the authentication handshake only gives you the keys for a subset of those.

Hence why a Denuvo protected game exe can easily be hundreds of megs.

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#33

Post by dugite-code »

viraptor wrote: post #23
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also "X removes DRM" is an opportunity for a news cycle that could result in new sales.

I'm not sure how common that is, but I've definitely bought 2 games after the "removed DRM" event. (Basically allowing me to play on Linux in pre-steamdeck times) I'm aware that lots of people don't care.

Sure lots of people don't care, but if you save money on DRM subscription fees and see a tiny bump in sales it could be worth the tiny amount of dev time. Assuming you set it up to be easily removed ahead of time.

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#35

Post by selectodude »

Arrath wrote: post #18
lordgrenville wrote: post #9

Pity most of the interesting information is missing because of legal concerns.

Agreed, this write up felt more like a summary. I'd love to get into the meat of it!

Here's a long video the premiere Denuvo cracker Volsi (who may/may not also be EMPRESS) made before going to jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suABtb8_2Zk

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#37

Post by ranger_danger »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #36
redder23 wrote: post #25

The so-called "rumors" that Denuvo kills performance are not rumors. It's just not true ANYMORE. Older versions impacted performance heavily, but later on the performance impact became negligible.

[flagged]

waiting in jail that is.

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#38

Post by beeboobaa3 »

jsheard wrote: post #31
metalcrow wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense, but how are these paths encrypted? If it's at runtime, you should be able to just not encrypt them. If it's at install time, do they generate a custom encrypted exe just for you per-download?

It's all done ahead of time when the game is packaged by the developer. The executable you download contains every encrypted path that might be executed, but the authentication handshake only gives you the keys for a subset of those.

If it were possible to fully sandbox an exe, so that it will always be presented the same hardware/system configuration, would that function as a universal denuvo bypass?

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#39

Post by Terr_ »

molticrystal wrote: post #7
wincy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say Lies of P was cracked, but turns out they just removed it from their game. It was up on piracy sites the same day. I wonder why this happens? Does Denuvo cost a lot of ongoing subscription money for a developer or something? I’ve noticed this happens a decent amount.

I believe Denuvo charges for access to the activation servers. [0] While the pricing structure has likely changed, for most game companies the long tail end [1] of the sales doesn't justify continuing. For example, Square-Enix(Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest) removes Denuvo 6 months into a release. For a counter-example, Atlus(makers of Persona/Shin Megami Tensei) are known to never purposely remove the protection. [0] h…

From a digital historian perspective, I do like the idea of DRM that is just there temporarily to ensure the fat-head of sales before being removed... especially when there's an economic cost spurring companies to not keep it around indefinitely.

Re: Bypassing Denuvo in Hogwarts Legacy

#40

Post by CJefferson »

beeboobaa3 wrote: post #38
jsheard wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all done ahead of time when the game is packaged by the developer. The executable you download contains every encrypted path that might be executed, but the authentication handshake only gives you the keys for a subset of those.

If it were possible to fully sandbox an exe, so that it will always be presented the same hardware/system configuration, would that function as a universal denuvo bypass?

From my understanding of looking at denuvo, yes, but at the moment that would require something close to full system emulation -- it's hard to "hide" everything about your 3d hardware in particular, because engines often include different code depending on your exact card, it's GPU power, amount of memory, etc. Emulating a "standard" 3d card would introducing a fairly huge overhead.
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