Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers

Persona 5 Strikers to Use Denuvo Anti-Tamper Tech

Persona 5 Strikers, the western localization of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, will utilize the controversial Denuvo DRM on PC.

Denuvo, the controversial anti-piracy DRM software, will be featured in the western localization of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, which will be known as Persona 5 Strikers, when it comes to PC next year.

For those unfamiliar, Denuvo is a form of Digital Rights Management or DRM software intended to help developers and publishers of PC games curb piracy without needing to spend time or money on developing DRM of their own. Anti-piracy software is incredibly common for PC games, but Denuvo draws the ire of many PC gamers because Denuvo has been proven to actually hamper the performance of the games it is attached to. Performance is everything to PC gamers, as most want every dollar they put into their machines to result in tangible improvements to the graphics and framerates of their games, not into running anti-piracy software.

Denuvo, while often used, is never touted by developers because the of the software’s negative reputation. The use of Denuvo is often not revealed until the game is listed on Steam or someone finds it while trying to mod the game, as Denuvo also makes game modding sometimes impossible due to it needing to verify all of a game's files. The former was the case for Persona 5 Strikers, as the game was listed on Steam ahead of its early 2021 release.

Those worried about Denuvo hurting their experience playing Persona 5 Strikers on PC shouldn’t have to worry for too long, as there is a somewhat common trend of developers removing Denuvo in the months following a game’s release. Games like Prey, Dragon Quest Builders 2, and Resident Evil 3 have all had their Denuvo removed in the months following their respective releases.

Games having their Denuvo removed is either due to complaints from fans or because Denuvo is apparently very expensive to continually utilize. Games tend to sell most of their units in the first few months of their release and Denuvo is usually cracked and removed by pirates in a similar amount of time, so continuing to pay for it after those events is rather pointless for developers and publishers.

Persona 5 Strikers will release on February 23, 2021 for the PC, in addition to the PS4 and Switch. The western localization was done a bit differently than in Persona games past, as the English voice cast had to record all of their dialogue from their respective homes, in order to keep everyone safe during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

Persona 5 Strikers will release worldwide on February 23, 2021, for PC, PS4, and Switch.