Though never made official, many suspected the last-minute delay of Sonic Mania's PC release was down to Sega's sudden wish to implement the controversial Denuvo DRM system. And fan's were, understandably, upset by the decision.
Much like Square's PC release of NieR: Automata, it came shortly after the console counterparts in a last minute decision that, while then blamed on the need to 'polish' the version expected to run on hundreds of different system specifications, was ultimately seen a cover story for some classic copyright protection methods.
Long understood to deliver performance issues despite being sold to developers as a near-flawless, uncrackable tool, many players have begun to boycott games utilizing the controversial software - namely for the stigma attached to the idea that all PC players are rampant software pirates.
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With the once uncrackable Denuvo now being somewhat of an open book thanks to hackers who typically enjoy being given such a challenge, the copyright protection blamed for the 2-week delay of Sonic Mania was smashed wide open in just over 7 days; causing players and boycotters to call out Sega's decision yet again.
Developer Christian Whitehead teased the inclusion of Denevo before the release, leading many to latch on to the idea of it being Sega's sudden DRM decision to blame for the release delay. Directly advising players to complain to the publisher, Whitehead was clearly affected by the idea to slap the controversial software onto his game through fear of it alienating and splitting the community up yet again - something Sega have struggled to keep together over the years.
With Denuvo now being viewed as weak and unnecessary, how many similar will we see as time goes by?
