The fact that the anti-piracy system Denuvo remains a thing in video games in 2025 is quite remarkable. Despite numerous examples where the system has been bypassed, many publishers still believe it can help with legitimate game sales. However, Denuvo continues to be widely disliked by most gamers. and this has resulted in a significant change for Krafton and Inzo Studios‘ upcoming life simulator, inZOI.
In an effort to attract players, the studio previously released a separate demo called Creative Studio, which showcased its impressive character creation and building modification system. Unfortunately, players quickly discovered that this demo included Denuvo, sparking concerns that the system might impact performance and limit modding potential for the main release.
Rather than dismissing these concerns, Krafton has acknowledged the feedback and chosen to comply with the community’s wishes. In an official statement on Steam, director and producer of inZOI, Hyungjun “Kjun” Kim, confirmed that the game’s Early Access release will not include Denuvo.
Kim openly admitted that the initial implementation of Denuvo was intended to prevent piracy, and removing it does increase the risk of unauthorised distribution. However, on the other hand, eliminating Denuvo will make inZOI significantly easier to modify — allowing players to create new experiences and share them with the community.
“We understand that removing Denuvo increases the risk of the game being cracked and illegally distributed after release. At the same time, we believe it opens up a valuable opportunity: it allows inZOI to become more freely configurable — unlocking new ways for players to shape new experiences for other players. We believe enabling this freedom from the very beginning will lead to innovative and long-lasting enjoyment for the community,” said Kim.
After careful consideration, the development team believes prioritising this freedom will lead to greater creativity, engagement, and innovation within the player base. By removing Denuvo at launch, inZOI reinforces its commitment to being a modding-friendly life simulation game. This decision aligns with their broader vision, especially as they prepare to roll out the first phase of official modding support in May 2025.
inZOI is scheduled to launch in Early Access on March 28 on PC via Steam.
