Digital Rights Management Archives

TrendTechie

May 18, 2025

Из Life is Strange: Double Exposure убрали защиту Denuvo – ждем на торрентах

Square Enix has removed the Denuvo protection from the game Life is Strange: Double Exposure after six months to a year, indicating it may soon be available on torrent sites. The game was released on PC and consoles in the fall of 2024 and has received over 7,000 reviews on Steam, with 68% of players giving positive feedback.

AppWizard

May 17, 2025

Stellar Blade Devs Address PC Release Controversies

Stellar Blade has become highly popular on the PlayStation 5, topping the PlayStation Store charts and selling out merchandise. The game is set to release on PC on June 11th, following its transition from a former exclusive. The developer, Shift Up, has addressed community concerns regarding region locks, content parity between PC and PlayStation versions, and the necessity of a PlayStation Network account for the PC version. All content, including the Nier: Automata crossover, will be available on PC. The introduction of Denuvo DRM has sparked debate due to potential impacts on frame rates and offline playability, but the development team claims it is optimized to maintain performance. Stellar Blade is available for pre-order on Steam, with the base version priced at .99 and a Complete Edition at .99, which includes additional content.

TrendTechie

April 1, 2025

Состоялся релиз симулятора свиданий Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme – игра уже на торрентах

Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme has been released on Steam and PlayStation 4 and 5 as a spin-off of the Dead or Alive fighting game series, focusing on romantic pursuits rather than combat. Players can choose to win the affection of one of six characters: Honoka, Misaki, Eliza, Fiona, Tamaki, or Nanami, each with unique traits and storylines. The game has received a score of 32 out of 40 from Famitsu in Japan but is not available for direct purchase on Steam outside of Asian markets due to criticism from feminist groups regarding the portrayal of women in the franchise. The lack of digital rights management (DRM) has resulted in the game being leaked on torrent sites.

AppWizard

March 6, 2025

Final Fantasy 16 is the latest game to be freed from the shackles of Denuvo, though its 7-year-old predecessor still remains in DRM jail

Square Enix has removed Denuvo anti-tamper software from Final Fantasy 16, confirmed by SteamDB on March 4, just under six months after its release. This decision has been positively received by players, who often link Denuvo to performance issues. Publishers typically phase out Denuvo when sales decline and piracy threats lessen, which contrasts with Final Fantasy 15, still using Denuvo after seven years. The transition to a subscription model for Denuvo may have influenced Square Enix's decision. Denuvo's attempts to improve its image, including a Discord server, faced backlash and was locked due to negative feedback. Product manager Andreas Ullman noted the lack of evidence supporting claims that preventing piracy directly increases revenue. The impact of Denuvo's removal on Final Fantasy 16's sales remains uncertain.

Winsage

February 24, 2025

TSforge New Tool Bypasses Windows Activation on All Versions

TSforge is a new exploit developed by researchers that can activate all versions of Windows from Windows 7 onward, as well as all Office versions since Office 2013. It utilizes a technique called the "CID trick," which modifies the CID validation code in sppobjs.dll to allow the use of a counterfeit CID for activation. This activation persists even after service restarts. The researchers identified key locations for activation data storage, including specific files and registry keys that form the "trusted store." They used leaked Windows beta builds to understand the spsys.sys driver and reverse-engineered components to extract private RSA keys for decrypting and re-encrypting the activation data. TSforge can activate any Windows edition without debuggers or kernel exploits and bypasses hardware ID validation and the PKEY2005 encoding system.

Winsage

February 21, 2025

Hackers release TSforge exploit that «forever» activates Windows and Office

A hacker group called Massgrave has developed a method named TSforge Activation that permanently activates most Microsoft products and bypasses the digital rights management (DRM) system. This method allows updates for Windows 10 beyond its official end of support in October 2025. The group previously launched the Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS) project in 2024, claiming to dismantle Microsoft’s DRM protections. The TSforge method works by replacing activation data files with counterfeit data, tricking the Software Protection Platform (SPP) into accepting fraudulent product keys. TSforge currently enables activation for Windows 7 and later versions, including Windows Server (2008 R2 – 2025), and Office 2013-2024 on Windows 8 and later. It also unlocks commercial features like Extended Security Updates for Windows 7-10. Despite being aware of these activators, Microsoft has not taken significant action against them. The MAS project is open-source and hosted on GitHub. The hackers argue that their tool could be used as an alternative activation method in urgent situations.

Winsage

February 19, 2025

Hacker group releases updated tool to activate almost all modern Microsoft software

A hacking collective named Massgrave has introduced a new activation method called "TSforge Activation," which allows for permanent activation of various Microsoft products while bypassing the company's Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. This method is part of the updated Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS) project, specifically the MAS 3.0 update released in 2024. TSforge exploits Microsoft's Software Protection Platform (SPP) by manipulating key files to accept counterfeit product keys. It is compatible with Windows 7 and later versions, as well as Office versions from 2013 to 2024. The MAS toolkit, which is open-source and hosted on GitHub, offers multiple activation methods and is framed by its developers as an alternative activation approach rather than piracy.

Winsage

February 19, 2025

This open-source tool can activate practically every Windows and Office release

The Massgrave team has released version 3.0 of their Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS), introducing TSforge, which allows activation of all Windows editions from version 7 onward and all Office versions since Office 2013. MAS can activate commercial Windows licenses, including the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for certain Windows 7 to 10 editions. The tool is open-source and targets the Software Protection Platform (SPP) directly. MAS is hosted on GitHub, and despite its association with software piracy, Microsoft has not intervened in its availability. The Massgrave team has documented their processes for educational purposes and acknowledges the SPP as an advanced DRM system compared to earlier versions.

TrendTechie

February 15, 2025

Три новые игры про Лару Крофт слили на торренты в день выхода

The remastered collection of Tomb Raider IV, V, and VI, titled Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, has been released on Steam. Within 24 hours of its release, it appeared on torrent sites, raising concerns among developers and fans. The developers did not use protective measures like Denuvo, leading to discussions about digital rights management. The collection includes Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. Enhancements include improved graphics, two control schemes, achievements, a photo mode, health bars for bosses, and the option to switch to original polygonal models. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is available on PC, the latest two generations of consoles, and Nintendo Switch.

AppWizard

February 8, 2025

The PlayStation Network has been taken completely offline across all platforms for more than half a day, preventing online gaming, store purchases, game updates, and more

Access to the PlayStation Network (PSN) is being restored for some PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 users after an outage that began on February 8, 2025, at 1 AM CET. The outage affected PSN logins and services across all platforms, including PS5, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, and PC, and lasted over 16 hours. Sony acknowledged the issue via a tweet but has not clarified the cause of the disruption. Users have reported difficulties with offline gaming due to dependencies on PSN, such as digital rights management (DRM) checks and day-one updates. The situation has led to increased panic and confusion among customers, reminiscent of the 2011 PSN hack and outage.