2K and Denuvo Reportedly Add Mandatory 14-Day Online Checks to Several Games After DRM Bypass

Denuvo's anti-tamper protection has reportedly been fully cracked, and 2K Games is not taking it lying down.

For those out of the loop, Denuvo has been one of the most widely used DRM solutions in PC gaming for years. It has also been one of the most controversial, with many players claiming it negatively impacts game performance.

But things took a dramatic turn in late 2025, when a group called MKDev collective and a prolific cracker known as DenuvOwO developed a hypervisor-based bypass, or HVB. This tool installs a kernel-level driver on a PC and intercepts Denuvo's security checks, effectively fooling the system without actually removing the DRM itself.

Around the same time, another well-known cracker named voices38 went a step further and fully stripped Denuvo from several titles entirely, including recent releases like Resident Evil: Requiem.

Things have escalated quickly since then. As per reports by Tom's Hardware, the list of uncracked or non-bypassed Denuvo-protected games dropped to zero recently, marking what the piracy community is calling a complete victory. Known repacker FitGirl publicly congratulated both DenuvOwO and voices38 for their efforts, which, within that community, is about as high a seal of approval as it gets.

So what is Denuvo doing about it? According to Tom's Hardware and Pirat Nation, 2K and Denuvo have quietly introduced a mandatory 14-day online check to several titles, including NBA 2K25, NBA 2K26, and Marvel's Midnight Suns.

The system works through authorization tokens. Once your token expires after 14 days, your game simply will not launch until you connect to the internet, re-authorize your install, and receive a fresh token. The timer then resets and the cycle continues.

As Tom's Hardware put it, "This is impossible for the HVB to emulate, as it's a request/response call to Denuvo's servers and thus in practice can't be replicated."

This approach is effective against pirates for now, but it comes with real consequences for legitimate players too. Gamers who travel frequently or live in areas with unreliable internet will find themselves locked out of games they legally purchased. Steam Deck users, for example, could easily run into trouble if they are not connected to the internet when the token expires. And if Denuvo's own servers ever go down, honest customers will be the ones paying the price.

What makes this move even more frustrating is the apparent lack of transparency around it. Pirat Nation noted that "the requirement is not clearly disclosed on Steam store pages, in the EULA, or at the time of purchase, meaning many buyers were unaware they would need periodic internet access even for single-player modes." That is a significant concern, given that most of the affected titles have single-player modes where an online requirement makes very little practical sense.

This situation is also unfolding alongside similar moves from Sony. Reports have surfaced suggesting PlayStation has added 30-day online verification timers to all new digital PS5 and PS4 purchases, though Sony has yet to officially confirm this. It seems like multiple major players in the industry are tightening their grip on digital ownership at the same time.