• IO Interactive has added Denuvo DRM to 007 First Light, a few days before launch
• Users on Steam have voiced frustrations and started refund requests
• Denuvo is a controversial DRM due to the potential impact on performance, and other PC restrictions

Gamers have been eager to get hands-on with 007 First Light, which is just days away from launch on May 27, 2026, but one recent controversial move from IO Interactive has left fans upset.

As reported by Notebookcheck, developer IO Interactive has added Denuvo DRM to 007 First Light ahead of its launch, and numerous Steam users have started requesting refunds. This comes amid a noticeable trend of game publishers adding the controversial DRM to games, only after accepting pre-orders.

Unsurprisingly, fans are concerned about the impact Denuvo will have on the game's performance and, perhaps most importantly, the restrictions caused by the DRM (notable for SteamOS users when switching Proton versions).

This includes the long-term ramifications that may stem from Denuvo's invasive nature on users' PCs, since it has kernel-level access, which is essentially the highest level of authority on a system.

Users have taken to Steam forums to share frustrations, with one in particular stating: "Off the wishlist it comes. Denuvo will be bypassed day one or sooner, and I'll be waiting for a steep sale on a third-party website to buy this now, when it was going to be what I dove into at launch next week."

User complaints suggest IO Interactive, and frankly, many other game publishers, aren't forthcoming when it comes to Denuvo additions, which seem to happen only after pre-orders are made available.

While the DRM is used to prevent piracy, which it has been successful at doing over the last few years, that's not the case anymore, with numerous versions of games available via the Hypervisor crack, and an alarming number of playable builds are being leaked before their official launch.

Denuvo is more of a negative for consumers than a positive, but unfortunately, a potential removal from 007 First Light is unlikely at this stage.

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Isaiah is a Staff Writer for the Computing channel at TechRadar. He's spent over two years writing about all things tech, specifically games on PC, consoles, and handhelds. He started off at GameRant in 2022 after graduating from Birmingham City University in the same year, before writing at PC Guide which included work on deals articles, reviews, and news on PC products such as GPUs, CPUs, monitors, and more. He spends most of his time finding out about the exciting new features of upcoming GPUs, and is passionate about new game releases on PC, hoping that the ports aren't a complete mess.