3w ago

Denuvo will lock you out of games on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck if you keep changing Proton versions

www.gamingonlinux.com Denuvo will lock you out of games on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck if you keep changing Proton versions

Although for some of us this is a well-known problem, it has appeared again with the release of DOOM: The Dark Ages so it's worth a quick PSA to remind people about Denuvo activation limits with Proton on Linux, SteamOS / Steam Deck.

Linux Gaming @lemmy.world

www.gamingonlinux.com /2025/05/denuvo-will-lock-you-out-of-games-on-linux-steamos-steam-deck-if-you-keep-changing-proton-versions/

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26 comments

No worries: i am locked out of games using denuvo just because they use denuvo.

I have been boycotting games with denuvo for years, this kind of bullshit is why.

Then you reclaim to Steam that the game is not working, Steam reimburses you the full cost and takes it off from the game's sale.
So another way game studios shoot themselves in the foot by using Denuvo.

While this is stupid, it's also minor and doesn't really deserve such clickbaity titles. You'll only be locked out for 24 hours, which is not long, and you'd have to switch Proton versions 5 times within 24 hours for this to happen, which should be very rare to begin with.
I play exclusively on Linux/Proton for years now and at the MOST I've switched Proton versions like 3 times within 24 hours, 99% of the time I switch them never (because 99% of the time it just works) or just once (e.g. switching from regular Proton to Experimental or GE-Proton, which might help wth very new games). That means I would probably never be affected by this.
I"m not trying to defend this, this limitation should not exist, but I'm trying to position this correctly because the titles are misleading clickbait, they suggest you'll be locked out permanently.

Remember it from resident evil village and elden ring. If you set proton to hotfix it can update and count as changed. Therefore I set all games to use just to latest proton ge.

you WILL use our enshittified product, or nothing at all
-publishers
- I would choose nothing, but thankfully there are loads of fantastic games that don’t ship with malware. I give them my money, instead.
  
  Pssst, there are FOSS games
- That nothing sounds a lot more appealing. Please, tell me more.
  
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  .
  
  Sadly most people don't have the same view it seems...
- If it were up to the publishers they would force us to give them money against our will. They would shun people for choosing not to buy their games the way they shun people for pirating. Thankfully the first one is illegal and the second one is just so asinine and unreasonable that any publisher who did it would lose all respect for it. But that doesn't mean they wouldn't want these things if they could get away with it. These publishers are way more evil and greedy than many of us really give them credit for.

I suggest not rewarding publishers with our money for Denuvo-infected games.
- Agreed, I encourage people to follow the Denuvo Curator to keep track of which ones have it and possibly even ignore the ones that do (hides them from recommendation feeds).

Thank god yakuza is on gog drm free
- Not Ishin though, and that's a shame. No one patched Denuvo from it too. It's not a mainline game, but from what I've seen, it may become my favorite entry one day :(

And why i wont buy denuvo games

I'm surprised denuvo even runs via proton.
- It’s based on Wine/Crossover. EXE compatibility came literally decades before DirectX compatibility.
  
  I just thought it did something akin to kernel anticheat, something fucky like that which wouldn't run properly via proton.

Fair reminder everyone, if you wish to find out easily which games have and don't have Denuvo I recommend following the Denuvo Games Curator which will tell you which ones have it and which ones used to have it. It's a great tool for avoiding these games.

That's good, at least we'll filter them out

Getting locked out for 24 hours for changing between 5 different versions of Proton isn't the worst, mostly just sucks for people who test stuff or benchmark.
Same thing also happens on Windows if you replace hardware (for example doing benchmarking across multiple gpu models)
Obviously fuck denuvo, I hate drm as much as the next guy in this community. But being locked out from using more than 5 different versions of Proton in 24 hours isn't that bad, you can just switch back to one of those 5 and it keeps working. (assuming it worked in the first place, which at this point with how good proton has gotten it probably does)

26 comments