Denuvo Removed From Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Life is Strange: Before the Storm, the episodic story game based off of the Life is Strange world, had their second episode release. While this seems normal enough, the interesting part is that Denuvo appears to be absent now.

Denuvo is an anti-piracy and tampering system that developers can place inside their games in an effort to ward off hackers and pirates. It has been the goto DRM tool of choice for many big name titles lately, such as Tekken 7, Sonic Mania, Shadow of War, Just Cause 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and NieR Automata. Most fans have rather negative opinions of Denuvo, not because they want to pirate the game but because it hinders gameplay for those who purchase it legitimately. Consistent online checks and confirmations will both slow down processing power, but also punish those with unreliable internet connections.

As a result of community hatred for Denuvo, it has become a very quickly cracked and removes the tool from games, with Denuvo-free copies being put online in mere hours after the game's release.

Square Enix, the publisher of Life is Strange, has used Denuvo for nearly all of their games, but this time around they've decided not to. No statement has been made, so it is unclear if this change was intentional or an accident. While it is possible that this is a reaction to the community, It is odd that they would act in good faith without letting the world know.