If you're not a PC gamer, you may have never heard of the gaming security firm Denuvo. To quickly fill you in, this firm has offered an anti-tamper DRM solution for many prominent video game publishers of PC titles. Of course, this DRM is a lot less popular amongst gamers (and even developers) that claim the DRM slows down their titles. While Denuvo states that there should be no perceptible effect, the service is still regularly demonized. This is probably why most Android gamers won't be thrilled to learn that Denuvo has launched a mobile-focused DRM solution for Android called Mobile Game Protection.

Thanks to a recent announcement for Gamescom, Denuvo has revealed Mobile Game Protection, a DRM solution designed to stop cheaters and pirates by protecting mobile games from tampering. This solution does not require the source code, will be available 24/7, and supposedly can be applied to any game with minimal effort. Ideally, this service should appeal to the many free-to-play game devs out there, since these titles are often cracked to unlock the many currencies and paywalls gamers tend to hate. Premium game devs will probably want to get in on the fun as well so that their games aren't leaked across the web for free.

As it stands, we don't yet know if Mobile Game Protection will have an impact on the Android games it's applied to, though I doubt Denuvo will be forthcoming with that info since the PC gaming market is still contesting the impact there. On a personal level, I'm no fan of DRM in any form. At best it can stave off pirates in the short term, but as we all know, hackers never give up, so cracked games are still a thing on PC, even Denuvo titles, and I would imagine with some effort the same will be true on the Android side. This means DRM rarely stops hackers, while often degrading the experience for those that play by the rules and pay for their games.

I suppose the release of Mobile Game Protection should appeal to premium and FTP devs alike, so could be a good way to pull in new developers that were once worried about piracy and hacks on the platform. Even I have to admit, the possibility of no longer having to worry about cheaters in multiplayer Android games sounds like a good thing to me, and I'd love for Android to build a better reputation when it comes to piracy. Sadly, I still can't shake the feeling that in the end, it will be consumers that pay the heaviest price, though I suppose there's currently no way to know for sure, so I'll reserve judgment until the first Mobile Game Protection titles start to drop on the Play Store.

Source: Irdeto