Ubisoft has declared that DRM isn’t the reason for Assassin’s Creed Origins devouring PC processor resources.
PC gamers playing the latest incarnation of Ubisoft’s long-standing series have been complaining that the game puts their computer’s CPU under a lot of strain, often seeing it running at full capacity.
A game cracker called Voski laid the blame at Ubisoft’s poor implementation of two forms of DRM protection; the company uses Denuvo and VMProtect as its anti-piracy tools.
“Basically, Ubisoft have implemented VMProtect on top of Denuvo, tanking the game’s performance by 30-40%, demanding that people have a more expensive CPU to play the game properly, only because of the DRM. It’s anti-consumer and a disgusting move,” Voski stated.
But in a statement to Ars Technica, Ubisoft has refuted Voski’s claims and denies that its DRM causes excessive CPU usage.
“The anti-tamper solutions implemented in the Windows PC version of Assassin’s Creed Origins have no perceptible effect on game performance,” the spokesperson said, noting that the game maintains a steady 30fps at minimum and recommended PC system requirements.
Ubisoft has the minimum CPU requirements set at an Intel Core i5-2400, while the recommended CPU sits at a Core i7-3370.
The game maker also noted that Assassin’s Creed Origins uses the “full extent” of the CPU, which would suggest that the taxing demands the game puts on PC processors is deliberate rather than poor DRM implementation.
Assassin’s Creed games have thrown up performance issues in the past, so no doubt Ubisoft will release a patch before long to optimise the game now that it’s out in the wild.
Related: Assassin’s Creed Origins Guide
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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