Summary
The PC version ofShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeancewill incorporate Denuvo Anti-Tamper. The game’s use of the controversial digital rights management (DRM) solution has been confirmed by one of the recently surfacedShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeancepre-order listings.
Denuvo Anti-Tamper is nothing new for Atlus games, with the studio’s history of its usage being almost as old as its modern foray into PC publishing. Specifically, the developer’s first title to make use of this technology was the PC port ofPersona 4 Golden, released in mid-2020. Although the fandom has sporadically complained about this practice, having previously evenmistakenly blamed it for some performance issues inPersona 4 Golden, Atlus’s track record with implementing Denuvo is mostly free of controversy, even if the tech itself is not.
The recent start of theShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeancepre-order periodhas now brought forward the confirmation that the upcoming JRPG will mark yet another Atlus PC release that incorporates Denuvo. That’s according to itsSteam page, whose list of notices mentions the anti-piracy software as the game’s one and only third-party DRM feature.
SMT5: Vengeance Will Be Atlus’s 13th PC Game With Denuvo
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July 03, 2025
The table doesn’t include third-party PC games that were only published by Atlus, nor Atlus games that predate Denuvo (2014).
The fact that the definitive edition ofShin Megami Tensei 5will use Denuvo has seemingly disgruntled a few vocal fans. “It’s lovely to be treated like a criminal,” wrote Reddit user SquireRamza in reaction to the news. And while their sentiment gained some online traction, the fandom appears to be far from unanimous on the subject of Atlus’s Denuvo use. Another fan hence labeled SquireRamza’s comment as an overreaction, while multiple other people posited that this turn of events was to be expected, and wouldn’t dissuade them from buying the game.
Most of the online buzz surrounding the upcoming JRPG doesn’t mention Denuvo at all. Instead, the majority of fans appear to be more eager to discusstheir expectations forShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance, especially following Atlus’s confirmation of an alternate story route. Called Canon of Vengeance, the diverging path promises another 80-hour adventure meant to shed more light on the events from the base game, which has excited many JRPG aficionados.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
WHERE TO PLAY
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance consists of two complete story paths: experience a brand-new route, the “Canon of Vengeance” – a dramatic tale of revenge by the fallen, centered around new characters and an enigmatic cohort of demons, the Qadištu, who plot their own dark designs apart from the war of those who fight to maintain order and those who seek to defy it. Or explore the original story told in Shin Megami Tensei V, the “Canon of Creation” – an eternal conflict between angels and demons, in which the protagonist fights for the world’s fate.When a grisly murder scene in modern-day Tokyo blocks our protagonist’s walk home, an unplanned detour leaves him buried and unconscious. He awakens in a new Tokyo, a wasteland ravaged by apocalypse now called Da’at… but before bloodthirsty demons can claim his life, a savior emerges, and the two of them unite to become a mighty being, neither human nor demon: a Nahobino.With newfound power, the protagonist ventures through Da’at, an enigmatic realm filled with mythical deities and demonic tyrants in constant conflict for survival. Searching for answers, the protagonist must forge his own path in a battle between angels and demons to dictate the fate of the world.
