Metro Exodus ditches Denuvo

Metro Exodus is no longer one of the many games laden with Denuvo, having removed the DRM in a recent hot fix. There's not much else to the patch, but it's good news for anyone who isn't a fan of the controversial anti-tamper software. 

The hotfix removes Denuvo from Steam, Epic and Xbox Game Pass for PC versions, along with fixing a filter bug in Sam's Story, camera rotation issues and some crashes. You can also backup your saves on the Epic version now.

• Removed Denuvo from Steam, Epic, Xbox PC Gamepass versions.
• Fixed the rapidly discharging filter issue in Sam’s Story on all platforms (extreme timer depletion in fog).
• This fixes the filter issue just after getting the boat from the humanimal hunter lair and proceeding into the fog beyond. Filters depleting quickly in the high rad zone near the sub base without the proper hazmat suit from the fire depot, is by design.
• Added save backup functionality for Epic version in case of cloud save malfunction.
• Browse to the default save folder to find a “.backup” folder.
• Fixed camera rotation issue with latest Nvidia Ansel update.
• Fixed various crashes.

While this comes soon after the decision to remove Denuvo from Doom Eternal, they are unlikely to be related. Doom featured the new Denuvo Anti-Cheat software, rather than the DRM that we normally refer to when discussing Denuvo. It was equally, if not more, unpopular, but for different reasons.

Denuvo is frequently removed from games eventually, but while some players count these instances as victories, the company argues that it primarily exists to combat piracy around launch, when it's most harmful, painting its removal as part of the process. Metro Exodus has been out for more than a year, so Denuvo has probably served its purpose. That couldn't be said for Anti-Cheat being yanked out of Doom, however, as that was a direct response to the negative reaction from players.