Today, the single-player turn-based tactical game Star Wars: Squad Zero officially launched. Although the game page did not state that it includes Denuvo protection, players previously thought that EA might add protection at the last minute, as all previous Star Wars series games from this publisher were protected by Denuvo.
However, the game was ultimately released without DRM protection and has already appeared online, becoming EA's third title this year to launch without Denuvo: previously, both EA Sports College Football 27 and EA Sports Madden NFL 27 also did not use the Austrian company's protection technology.
Players believe there are two possible reasons for the publisher abandoning the protection: first, Denuvo may have become ineffective, with frequent cracks by groups like voices38 and DenuvOwO rendering the protection meaningless—sometimes bypassed within minutes of release, or even before launch. Second, the company has changed ownership, now under new Saudi Arabian owners. It's possible that after the change in ownership, new contracts needed to be signed with Irdeto for new games, and they may not have done so.
Currently, among Electronic Arts' upcoming titles, only the football simulation game EA Sports FC 27 has stated it will continue to use Denuvo. EA was the first publisher to adopt this encryption protection, so losing such a long-term client would be a significant blow to Irdeto.