Cracker group CPY has just breached one of the last holdouts of the old version of the Denuvo anti-tamper solution, Hitman (2016). This news comes after Square Enix confirmed that the upcoming NieR: Automata will use Denuvo, so we are hoping that the publisher will use a new version of the anti-tamper solution, since it seems that old implementations will not do a great job at protecting new software.

Another cracker group has also released a tool that can bypass online verification and let illegitimate players upload leaderboard data and take part in the various online events that Io-Interactive has been hosting. Hopefully this security breach will be plugged soon, and users who purchased the game will not have to deal with rampant cheating.

Here at Gaming on PC we disapprove of those bypasses and cracks, as they not only lead to a diminished user experience, but also hurt developers that have shown their respect for the PC platform. Gamers who wish to play Hitman should instead check out the game’s Steam store page, since Square Enix is holding a 50% off sale.

We know that DRM solutions are not exactly harmless (if your Internet connection goes down before you got the chance to authenticate your games on the Denuvo servers you can’t play, for instance) but that should never be used to justify piracy. Even the “it’s just for preservation” excuse is a bit pointless, considering that game developers can release patches that remove Denuvo from their titles (such as the one released by Dambuster Studios less than two weeks ago, when they patched Denuvo out from Homefront: The Revolution).