Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis appears to have dropped Denuvo several months before launch, potentially giving PC players some welcome news ahead of Lara Croft’s return. The upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis reimagines the 1996 original with larger environments, modernized combat, and rebuilt puzzles.
Crystal Dynamics has come back to the world of Lara Croft, this time developing Legacy of Atlantis alongside Flying Wild Hog, with Amazon Game Studios publishing. Rather than simply remastering Lara’s first PS1 adventure yet again, the two development teams are rebuilding it in Unreal Engine 5 while keeping the original story and locations recognizable to fans of the original. From what fans can currently tell, classic areas that were once separate rooms have been opened into larger connected spaces, while familiar puzzles like the Lost Valley cog sequence return in substantially different forms. Legacy of Atlantis is currently slated to launch on February 12, 2027.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Appears to Drop Denuvo
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A medium close-up of a smiling Lara Croft looking up in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. Crystal Dynamics / Amazon Game Studios
PC gamers may be pleased to find that Denuvo appears to have been removed from Legacy of Atlantis‘ Steam version, according to a SteamDB update. Denuvo Anti-Tamper reportedly appeared on the game’s Steam page earlier in June, but the notice has since disappeared after a September 30 update, and SteamDB reports that the 3rd-party DRM is no longer present. Neither Crystal Dynamics, Flying Wild Hog, nor Amazon have publicly explained the change, so Denuvo could still return before launch, given that there is still quite some time before the game is out. For now, though, the controversial DRM appears to be gone nearly five months before release, which is quite the inversion of the standard Denuvo life cycle, where the DRM is often removed months or years after a game comes out.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
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Since its 2014 debut, Denuvo hasn’t been very popular among PC players. The anti-tamper tech is meant to make games harder to crack during their most important sales period, but it has also drawn years of complaints about performance, online authentication, and DRM restrictions on legitimate copies. The performance debate has never been as straightforward as simple performance and rights issues, though, as Denuvo has disputed claims that its technology inherently slows games down, and results have varied by title. Even so, seeing the name attached to an upcoming release is enough to make some PC players nervous, so its absence from Legacy of Atlantis may let some fans breathe a sigh of relief.
The timing also comes as Tomb Raider enters a much busier period after years without a brand-new mainline adventure. Legacy of Atlantis looks backward by rebuilding Lara’s 1996 debut in Unreal Engine 5, while Crystal Dynamics prepares the franchise’s next major step forward with Tomb Raider: Catalyst, slated for 2028. Both upcoming games feature Alix Wilton Regan as Lara, giving the character a new voice as the series moves into its next era.
Catalyst has been described as an original adventure set across Northern India after a mythical cataclysm exposes ancient secrets and attracts treasure hunters from around the world. Crystal Dynamics even says it is the largest Tomb Raider world yet, with exploration, tombs, puzzles, and customizable equipment all playing major roles. However, before Lara heads somewhere new, Legacy of Atlantis still has the job of reminding players where the entire series began, and doing so without Denuvo might give its PC release one more thing working in its favor.
- Released
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February 12, 2027
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Amazon Games
