‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ Facial Animation Fixes Not Coming To Cracked Version

“Mass Effect: Andromeda” cracked version players will have to make do with the subpar facial animations that came with BioWare’s action RPG at launch. It was just found out that the facial animation fixes that were rolled out with the latest patch are not making it to the pirated game.

Eurogamer reports that when BioWare released a new patch for “Mass Effect: Andromeda” last week, it also covertly updated the Denuvo anti-piracy protection of the game. With the update, anybody who has a cracked version of the game will not benefit from the facial animation fixes.

Denuvo, an anti-tamper technology, became popular three years ago when it managed to protect BioWare’s “Dragon Age: Inquisition” for almost a month — a remarkable feat in the gaming industry. Unfortunately, the retail version of “Mass Effect: Andromeda” came with the dated version of Denuvo. This then led to the game getting cracked in just 10 days.

The outdated version of Denuvo is speculated to be the same one that was compromised just this past February. At the time, “Resident Evil 7,” which came with the same anti-piracy protection, was swiftly pirated in just a week after its launch. To date, this hacking case is said to be the fastest ever in the gaming industry.

BioWare’s move to update “Mass Effect: Andromeda’s” Denuvo protection comes weeks after the RPG’s release. DSOGaming says the new version of Denuvo is now the same one that is powering “Nier: Automata” and “2Dark.” Since the new version has not been cracked yet, it’s safe to say that these games along with the new “Mass Effect” will remain protected for some time.

The news about the updated anti-tamper tech comes just days after BioWare apologized for its portrayal of a transgender character in “Mass Effect: Andromeda.” In a statement, the Canadian developer said that it is changing the dialogue of NPC Hainly Abrams with an upcoming update.