Assassin’s Creed Shadows seems to attract bad news like a magnet. Following the controversy around the main character and historical accuracy, today we learn that the game may monitor our system memory, alongside packing controversial Denuvo DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Confirmed on the official Steam page, Ubisoft asks permission to scan your RAM in the game’s EULA (End-User License Agreement). Although it doesn’t pin down the reason, it’s likely to ensure the copy’s legitimacy through the infamous Denuvo DRM.
DRMs are anti-piracy software meant to control access to copyrighted material and stop illegal copying and distribution. Much to the chagrin of players, they sometimes require access to high privilege levels on the host system to watch for any suspicious behaviour – a practice similarly common with anti-cheats.
Denuvo is often on the receiving end of claims that the DRM slows game down, reducing frame rates and introducing stutters by using too many resources, but the company regularly refutes this. Sometimes, it’s a case of hardware not playing well with the anti-piracy method, but there’s no denying that removing DRM entirely usually results in a performance uplift.
The sad truth is that it’s players who legally obtained the game that will have to deal with these annoying measures. Pair this with the fact that no DRM is infallible, regularly cracked within days, and it calls into question how effective of a deterrent they are at the expense of actual customers.
As a Ubi game, it also unsurprisingly requires you to link a Ubisoft account to access the game on Steam, and probably on Epic Games too. Not to forget the five system-changes limit per day which locks the game if it detects multiple hardware swaps – the nemesis of hardware reviewers and performance optimisation guides.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled to release next year on February 14 on all major platforms, including PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. While pricing is yet to be unveiled, the game is expected to come in four editions: Standard offering the base content, Gold which includes two upcoming expansions, Ultimate with some extra skins/in-game items, and Collector’s packing a physical statue of the main characters.
