Doom: The Dark Ages is the first Denuvo DRM game of 2025 to be cracked

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Crack and Tear: Denuvo remains one of the most controversial technologies in modern PC gaming. While major publishers rely on the DRM to protect sales during a game's launch window, many players argue it can hurt performance and limit ownership. Now the system has taken a notable hit, as a new figure in the anti-Denuvo scene has cracked one of the biggest releases of the year.

A "cracker" known as Voices38 recently shared their latest release: a Denuvo-free version of Doom: The Dark Ages. The newest entry in id Software's FPS franchise has now entered the wild world of PC piracy, though it remains an 81 GB download with significant hardware requirements, including a powerful gaming GPU.

Doom TDA is the first major Denuvo-protected release from 2025 to be successfully cracked. In the release's "NFO" notes, Voices38 said that Denuvo games are becoming increasingly difficult to crack, which is why they have set up a donation campaign to acquire new gaming hardware. The additional equipment will also be used to improve the stability of future cracks.

Voices38 added that the next Denuvo-free release might "surprise" gamers, leaving speculation open about which game will be cracked next. Many believe the upcoming release could be Black Myth: Wukong, the immensely popular action-RPG based on the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West with a darker tone. Game Science released Black Myth: Wukong in 2024 and continues to pay a Denuvo license to keep the game out of pirates' hands.

Regardless, Voices38 is establishing themselves as a major force in the growing anti-DRM movement. The unknown developer began releasing cracked Denuvo games a few months ago and has already removed the controversial DRM from many older titles. The coder recently stated that they plan to focus on more recent releases, though these will take time due to the technology's complexity and the effort required to develop a fully working crack.

It is unclear whether Voices38 is part of the traditional Warez scene, but they appear to take a friendlier approach to P2P sharing and the broader piracy community. The cracker also demonstrates a noticeably more level-headed approach to public interactions, whereas "Empress" – the previous champion of the Denuvo-cracking scene – was known for erratic announcements and rage-filled rants.

Empress no longer appears to be active in the Denuvo scene, while Voices38 is reportedly focused on becoming the new worst nightmare for the Austrian DRM maker.

Denuvo has proven effective at protecting a game's revenue during its initial launch period. However, gamers have consistently complained about the DRM's negative impact on performance. Denuvo maintains that the technology does not affect gameplay, but the debate over its true impact continues.

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Doom: The Dark Ages is the first Denuvo DRM game of 2025 to be cracked

 

[RedGuard]

I know a better protection. Make your game so bug-ridden nobody wants to play it, albeit crack it. And with the usual corporate greed and now vibe-coding, it's damn effective.

 

[m4a4]

Denuvo has proven effective at protecting a game's revenue during its initial launch period.

No it hasn't.

At best it's a theory. A darn convenient one to market Denuvo despite how hated it is...

 

[GeoffreyA]

Denuvo is not having a good 2026. First, the controversial Hypervisor method bypassed Resident Evil Requiem on day one; now, voices38 has landed another big blow, cracking TDA the old-fashioned way. If they can keep this up, the tide may turn against Denuvo.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

I know a better protection. Make your game so bug-ridden nobody wants to play it, albeit crack it. And with the usual corporate greed and now vibe-coding, it's damn effective.

Ubisoft, EA, and Activision Blizzard have entered the chat.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I just avoid all the DRM crap and go GoG.

 

[m4a4]

The only thing people can assume at this point are: people who were always going to buy it will. And people who were never going to buy it won't (whether they can pirate it or not).

Anything in-between is just pure speculation, including that it might help sales (at least this article is honest about it being speculation, and not "proven"). But it makes more sense, considering some people need a demo to try before they buy.

I have yet to see anyone actually try to do a proper test with a AAA game where they filter out demographics, including tracking things like demoing (or losing interest) because of low pirated playtime, waiting on a sale, or playing through an only pirated version.
You also need to account for conversions for the above (hard to attribute such a thing). And you can't really track anyone who stays offline or distributes the cracked version offline in poorer areas (which you were never going to get a sale anyways), which makes it even more complicated.

So yeah, pretending that a shallow paid study on DRM increasing sales as "proven" is pretty laughable at this point.

---------------
As for me personally, these days I'd really have to be interested (or want to be supportive) of a game to buy day one. And if Denuvo is present (particularly in a SP game), well, they can wait for a sale if I'm even interested in it anymore. I'm tired of being treated like every PC gamer is a pirate.
So, they definitely lose at least 1 (full) sale from me if they include it.

 

[NumberNine]

Fortunately Denuvo has never managed to score a deal for a title I can't miss, so I've never really found myself in a position to support what they do by allowing them to skim my compute resources.

 

[Melkor Unlimited]

People who were always going to buy it will.
And people who were never going to buy it won't (whether they can pirate it or not).

Its so simple and so difficult at the same time

Anything in-between is just pure speculation, including that it might help sales (at least this article is honest about it being speculation, and not "proven").

The whole stock & securities market is based on pure speculation.

As for me personally, these days I'd really have to be interested (or want to be supportive) of a game to buy day one. And if Denuvo is present (particularly in a SP game), well, they can wait for a sale if I'm even interested in it anymore. I'm tired of being treated like every PC gamer is a pirate.
So, they definitely lose at least 1 (full) sale from me if they include it.

The same for me.
I really have to be willing to support something to buy it at Day-1 (or Pre-purchase or Early Access).
Once upon a time I was willing to pay more to show support. But, thank to publishers and so called developers, I was already cured.

Denuvo or any other DRM works as detereence. Very strong one.
Another reason to NOT buy anything is this Always On-Line reqiurement and/or Cheap Anti in single player games.

Even if there are some bucks left in my wallet, my time in this realm is too limited to bother myself with those nonsenses.

 

[arrowflash]

For me, the use of Dubongo has become a major red flag for garbage games, to the point that I think we should thank Irdeto and the publishers for this service. It has basically turned into a warning to not waste your money and your time on this crap game.

With a few exceptions (I haven't played it yet but RE Requiem is probably one of the exceptions, though RE Village is hot garbage), the vast majority of games that use Denuvo (or have used it at some point in the past), aren't even worth pirating. Denuvo cracked/removed by the publisher or not.

Maybe this is why they insist on using it, despite like others said, most evidence points that DRM doesn't help sales. Pirates often give more unbiased reviews of games since there's no buyer's remorse or sunk cost fallacy involved.

 

[unoficialoficial]

The game had 99% of its sales in the first month. If it has a multiplayer mode, that might help; otherwise, it doesn't matter.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Denuvo is an auto no buy from me. Invasive online DRM requirements mean Im just renting, and Im not paying over $10 for anything with it.

The only thing people can assume at this point are: people who were always going to buy it will. And people who were never going to buy it won't (whether they can pirate it or not).

Anything in-between is just pure speculation, including that it might help sales (at least this article is honest about it being speculation, and not "proven"). But it makes more sense, considering some people need a demo to try before they buy.

I have yet to see anyone actually try to do a proper test with a AAA game where they filter out demographics, including tracking things like demoing (or losing interest) because of low pirated playtime, waiting on a sale, or playing through an only pirated version.
You also need to account for conversions for the above (hard to attribute such a thing). And you can't really track anyone who stays offline or distributes the cracked version offline in poorer areas (which you were never going to get a sale anyways), which makes it even more complicated.

So yeah, pretending that a shallow paid study on DRM increasing sales as "proven" is pretty laughable at this point.

---------------
As for me personally, these days I'd really have to be interested (or want to be supportive) of a game to buy day one. And if Denuvo is present (particularly in a SP game), well, they can wait for a sale if I'm even interested in it anymore. I'm tired of being treated like every PC gamer is a pirate.
So, they definitely lose at least 1 (full) sale from me if they include it.

There was a test done. It was done with the Witcher. And the DRM free version outsold the DRMed version. Its why GoG is all DRM free.

I just avoid all the DRM crap and go GoG.

Same. Ill happily pay $60 for a game on GoG, but if its got DRM on steam, nope.

 

[m4a4]

There was a test done. It was done with the Witcher. And the DRM free version outsold the DRMed version. Its why GoG is all DRM free.

I'm not finding anything more than "they didn't use DRM for The Witcher 3". No official test for or against DRM.

I do know that it was very successful and that gamers did reward them by going to GoG (was owned by CD Projekt, so they kept 100% of the profits). But that's not the type of test one could use to determine how much piracy could affect sales...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'm not finding anything more than "they didn't use DRM for The Witcher 3". No official test for or against DRM.

the witcher 1 sold 2 million copies with DRM, and a further 8 million after the DRM was removed.

I do know that it was very successful and that gamers did reward them by going to GoG (was owned by CD Projekt, so they kept 100% of the profits). But that's not the type of test one could use to determine how much piracy could affect sales...

The entire argument for DRM is that without it everyone would pirate the game and nobody would buy it. The fact games like the witcher 3 sell tens of million of copies despite having 0 DRM protection stands in direct opposition of that theory.

 

[GeoffreyA]

The entire argument for DRM is that without it everyone would pirate the game and nobody would buy it. The fact games like the witcher 3 sell tens of million of copies despite having 0 DRM protection stands in direct opposition of that theory.

If a game is good, it sells. Therefore, the best DRM is high-quality content.

 

[m4a4]

the witcher 1 sold 2 million copies with DRM, and a further 8 million after the DRM was removed.

I get that, but all that says is that gamers went to GoG to buy it to support them. It doesn't really say enough about or against piracy.......

The entire argument for DRM is that without it everyone would pirate the game and nobody would buy it. The fact games like the witcher 3 sell tens of million of copies despite having 0 DRM protection stands in direct opposition of that theory.

No, current narrative is the paid study cited above, where they said that forcing dirty, filthy PC gamers to buy a game instead of being able to pirate it for the first 12 weeks means they don't lose money to pirates.

The Witcher 3 helps against that narrative, sure, but CDPR wasn't trying to prove anything with that choice. We don't even have piracy numbers from that.


Anyways, my main point still is that a proper test hasn't been done yet (that wasn't bought and paid for) that tries to see what actually happens. W3 helps paint DRM as unnecessary, but it will just be seen as anecdotal.

 

[dad0ts]

The game had 99% of its sales in the first month.

BTW what is official number of overall sales(Steam) for Doom:TDA right now? It seems not reached 1M still?

 

[Gravitytr1]

Denuvo is not having a good 2026. First, the controversial Hypervisor method bypassed Resident Evil Requiem on day one; now, voices38 has landed another big blow, cracking TDA the old-fashioned way. If they can keep this up, the tide may turn against Denuvo.

Any idea where we can keep up with related news?

The reddit page is not my type of place

 

[GeoffreyA]

Any idea where we can keep up with related news?

The reddit page is not my type of place

Probably the "official" place would be the famous Russian underground forum. Not sure if one can link it here. (The number-one repacker, who uses Audrey Tautou as a mascot, both fit and a girl, links to it from most pages. Use Wikipedia to get to her site and not a fake.)

CrackWatch has useful information about crack releases and Denuvo.

Regarding the (unrecommended x10) hypervisor bypasses, the official channel would be the Discord of Kirigiri and others; I'm not on Discord, so haven't seen those.

A superb security analysis of hypervisor: https://github.com/RD945/hypervisor-crack-audit