Intel's e-Cores on their Alder Lake processors is triggering games DRM

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by Surur Davids 

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It seems Intel’s new little.Big processor technology in their 12th Gen Alder Lake processors is not sitting well with the DRM system used by a large number of games.

The company has published a list of games where the processors trigger the Denuvo DRM system in the games and prevent them from running. This is due to the DRM systems believing the e-Cores (efficiency cores) are another system.

The games affected include:

Windows 11

Windows 10
Anthem
Bravely Default 2
Fishing Sim World
Football Manager 2019
Football Manager Touch 2019
Football Manager 2020
Football Manager Touch 2020
Legend of Mana
Mortal Kombat 11
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 and 2
Warhammer IAssassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Far Cry Primal
Fernbus Simulator
For Honor
Lost in Random
Madden 22
Maneater
Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit Remastered
Sea of Solitude
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
Tourist Bus Simulator
Maneater		 Ace Combat 7
Assassins Creed Odyssey
Assassins Creed Origins
Code Vein
eFootball 2021
F1 2019
Far Cry New Dawn
FIFA 19
FIFA 20
Football Manager 2021
Football Manager Touch 2021
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ghost Recon Wildlands
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Just Cause 4
Life is Strange 2
Madden 21
Monopoly Plus
Need For Speed Heat
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shinobi Striker
Soulcalibur VI
Starlink
Team Sonic Racing
Total War Saga – Three Kingdoms
Train Sim World
Train Sim World 2
Wolfenstein Youngblood

Intel says a fix is coming via Windows Update in mid-November (presumably Patch Tuesday next week) and the company is also working with developers to help address the issue.

In the meantime a workaround is to disable to e-Cores using Legacy Game Compatibility Mode as per these instructions below:

  1. Power-up system and enter system BIOS setup.
  2. Enable switch Legacy Game Compatibility Mode to ON (one-time only) in BIOS.
  3. Save BIOS setup changes and exit.
  4. Boot to OS.
  5. Toggle Keyboard Scroll Lock key ON.
  6. Launch affected game title.
  7. Toggle Keyboard Scroll Lock key OFF after ending game title.

via gHacks

Surur Davids

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Surur Davids is the founder of WMPoweruser which later became MSPoweruser.com. He's a smartphone expert with over a decade of experience.

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