Doom Eternal’s Controversial Anti-Cheat Software Will Be Removed in Next Patch

Following negative fan reactions to Doom Eternal’s recent PC patch requiring the use of anti-cheat software, developer Id Software has stepped back and will be removing the software in the game’s next patch.

The software, named Denuvo Anti-Cheat, now launches alongside the game on PC, even when playing the single-player campaign. If players attempt to uninstall Denuvo, the game will be unable to launch until it is reinstalled. This has lead to extensive review-bombing on both Steam and Metacritic, where users have complained about the software invading their privacy, high CPU usage and negatively impacting the game’s performance.

Although Denuvo has been known to impact the quality of other games in the past, executive producer Marty Stratton claims this is not the case with Doom Eternal. In a Reddit post published Wednesday, Stratton laid out the team’s reasoning for including the software before ensuring players Denuvo would be removed in an upcoming patch.

“Despite our best intentions, feedback from players has made it clear that we must re-evaluate our approach to anti-cheat integration,” Stratton wrote in the post. “With that, we will be removing the anti-cheat technology from the game in our next PC update. As we examine any future of anti-cheat in DOOM Eternal, at a minimum we must consider giving campaign-only players the ability to play without anti-cheat software installed, as well as ensure the overall timing of any anti-cheat integration better aligns with player expectations around clear initiatives – like ranked or competitive play – where demand for anti-cheat is far greater.”

The software was meant to protect players from cheating in its multiplayer mode, and was included in the single-player campaign to prepare for an upcoming mode called Invasion, which will blend single-player and multiplayer elements, according to Stratton.

Stratton hopes to have the new patch, which will remove Denuvo and also address other performance issues the previous patch introduced, for PC users within a week.

For more on Doom Eternal, check out our review, as well as a more critical take on the gory shooter.