Borderlands 4 DRM Rumor Debunked

There’s a huge rumor going around about Borderlands 4 that isn’t quite true.

Pirat_Nation made this claim on Twitter:

Borderlands 4 will feature Denuvo DRM and Symbionte.

Optimization is reportedly poor.

It is developed in UE5.

The DRM Issue

Of course, DRM is a big issue for gamers. When game companies use DRM, or digital rights management, this DRM can be an impediment for consumers to play games the way they want it.

On the face of it, there’s understandable reasons for DRM to exist. This is intended to discourage piracy, which can have a real effect on a game’s profitability.

We won’t enter discourse here on how effective DRM prevents piracy, DRM harming game preservation, etc. But as we pointed out above, there’s a claim in Pirat_Nation’s tweet that’s just erroneous. Can you tell what it is?

Debunking The Misinformation

Symbiote isn’t actually in Borderlands 4. Or to be more specific, it isn’t in the game files anymore.

Thankfully, we can easily and freely confirm this on SteamDB. On June 16, 14:05:05 UTC, SteamDB logged this update:

Added 3rd-Party DRM – Denuvo and Symbiote

And then, on June 18, 23:50:03 UTC, this update got logged:

Changed 3rd-Party DRM – Denuvo and Symbiote › Denuvo

This update indicates that Symbiote was removed, but Denuvo remains. And we can confirm this on Borderlands 4’s Steam store page.

Publishers like 2K have to disclose these details on Steam. So they do disclose that Borderlands 4 on Steam has Denuvo, and requires you sign into an EULA.

But that is not the end of all this misinformation.

What Is Symbiote Anyway?

A NeoGAF post from June made this claim:

Symbiote is a DRM that acts on Kernel level which might explain why CPU requirements is demanding

While we don’t know where this claim originally comes from, it’s also completely erroneous.

Gearbox clarified this matter in the Borderlands 4’s Steam community:

We have seen some questions about Symbiote. Symbiote is not a DRM tool and was erroneously added to the Steam page, where we’ve removed it.

Symbiote is an internal code name for our proprietary anti-tamper tech used to prevent exploits, including store platform spoofing.

It operates strictly in user mode, meaning it does not run at the kernel level.

Does It Matter If It Still Has DRM?

If you don’t want to buy games with DRM in it, this news won’t change your mind. You would still be right to avoid Borderlands 4 for using Denuvo.

At the very least, you could justify waiting until Gearbox removes Denuvo before making that purchase. Gearbox has used Denuvo at launch and then removed it a few months later. So you won’t have to miss out on Borderlands 4 completely.

But it does matter if people are making fake claims and allowing it to spread around. If you have a cause, such as being anti-DRM, spreading misinformation isn’t helping your cause at all.

All it does is make your movement look untrustworthy. Subsequently, it can polarize gamers to be indifferent or even support DRM as a result.

In any case, you still have free choice where your money as a consumer will go.