Nintendo Switch OLED Metroid Dread
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

Denuvo protection software is now available to game developers creating games for the Nintendo Switch via Nintendo's Developer Portal. Cybersecurity company Irdeto announced the news at Gamescom 2023, with the "authorised Nintendo Switch middleware" now available (via VGC).

Denuvo says it is the first security partner available on the Developer Portal, following on from last year's 'Switch Emulation protection' reveal. Designed to prevent "unauthorized emulations on PC", the tech is now easily available to all developers working on Switch titles, and this has stirred up a rather passionate response from the community.

The firm claims that its solution integrates "seamlessly into the build toolchain with no impact on the gaming experience" in order to block emulators, preventing games from being pirated and emulated on PC so that "studios are able to increase their revenue during the game launch window, which is the most important period for monetization".

Denuvo has long proved controversial with gamers over the years, with many claiming it has affected the performance of games on Steam and PC. Square Enix has been removing the tech from many of its PC releases over the past few months, with both Forspoken and Octopath Traveler II being affected.

Many fans have been vocal on Twitter about the update. Interestingly, some have pointed out that Denuvo's announcement comes with an image that looks suspiciously like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's key art, with others claiming this to be an AI-generated piece.

In a statement, Irdeto CEO Doug Lowther says that the team is "thrilled" for the tech to be included in the Nintendo Developer Portal, and that "We witness an increasing need to protect against emulation on PC from game launch, our solution is a must have for publishers to monetize the games fairly on this platform and also not impact PC game sales."

This is just the latest step in Nintendo's crackdown on emulation. Just last month, makers of the GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin announced that it would no longer be coming to Steam after Nintendo contacted the platform. And in May, development on Skyline — a Switch Android emulator — was halted due to "potential legal risks".

What do you think of this Denuvo news? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[source irdeto.com, via twitter.com, videogameschronicle.com]