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If you thought that 2025 would end without one more video game getting cracked by pirates, then think again. Because with four days left in the year, voices38, a major player in the piracy scene, has managed to break through the Denuvo anti-piracy measures in place on Sonic Colors: Ultimate, the 2023 re-release of the original Sonic Colors that once was a Wii-exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog title.
As first shared on Reddit, Sonic Colors: Ultimate becomes the latest game to have its Denuvo removed, as pirates continue to make headway when it comes to the pay-for-use DRM program that many of the biggest releases in gaming come bundled with, much to the displeasure of players who believe the anti-tampering technology hampers the game itself.
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Specifically, voices38 noted that a “major milestone” has been “reached in understanding important details for the future Denuvo,” a key point that echos previous statements made that their toolset was “maturing.”
“Wish you all a happy DRM-free and old school New Year,” they wrote on Reddit.
The cracking of Sonic Colors: Ultimate follows back-to-back cracks of Sega games, including the long-awaited release of Persona 5 Royal, as well as the recent release of Persona 4 Golden, giving pirates just a few more titles to rummage through before the end of the year. Of note, both Persona titles similarly had Denuvo software.
If 2025 Will Be Remembered For One Thing In Piracy, It ll Be The Headway Made In Denuvo
Beyond the releases of Sonic Colors: Ultimate, Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden, several other Denuvo-locked titles were broken by pirates, including games that had long been assumed to be “uncrackable,” or unlikely to have the Denuvo DRM bypassed.
Specifically, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was cracked, also by voices38, marking another step towards modern Denuvo removal by pirates. Elsewhere, Starlink: Battle for Atlas was similarly cracked, if only to continue to test the toolsets that have come to define what is currently ongoing.
In perhaps the biggest achievement, Black Myth: Wukong was broken by a Denuvo researcher, and while it wasn’t made available to the masses for privacy-related concerns, the research tools have been made publicly available.
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All those developments happened mostly in the second half of the year, along with the usual cracks of games that do not ship with Denuvo, making the arrival of 2026 of particular interest to those in the piracy community.
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