Hacker voices38, whose speed surpasses most of his colleagues, reported a complete bypass of Denuvo protection in the action RPG The First Berserker: Khazan. The game was released on PC on March 27, 2025, and remained in use for almost 16 months—an anomalous for voices38, as he usually cracks DRM in weeks. The hack was performed using a classic method, without a hypervisor, and this is the first time Khazan has received a full crack, rather than a bypass technique.
Table of Contents
Who is voices38 and why is his hack such a big deal?
Over the past six months, voices38 has hacked DOOM: The Dark Ages, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Hogwarts Legacy, Mafia: The Old Country, Pragmata, and even LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. It’s a long list, but The First Berserker was an exception—the protection lasted the longest. Previously, there was only a hypervisor hack from the DenuvOwO group, but now there’s a full-fledged crack. voices38’s thorough approach allowed them to bypass a system that had previously defied classic methods.
What is Denuvo and how does it work?
Denuvo ties the game to unique hardware data, constantly validating code in memory. Khazan used a version limited to “5 different PCs per day.” Since the protection continues to run in the background even after bypassing, comparing the performance of the “clean” and protected versions is pointless—this is evidence that Denuvo hasn’t been removed, but merely bypassed. The game, powered by Unreal Engine 4, has had excellent frame rates since release, and there have been virtually no complaints about lag due to the DRM.
The Future of Denuvo: A Trend Toward Removing Protection
Square Enix, Capcom, and Warner Bros. have already removed Denuvo from Resident Evil 4 Remake, Forspoken, Gotham Knights, and other hits. However, Nexon is rumored to have no plans to remove protection from Khazan. Developer Neople disbanded back in April 2026—the publisher has no reason to patch an old game. So Denuvo will likely remain in the Steam version permanently. CrackWatch and Reddit are already thanking voices38, though many note that such protection is overkill for a single-player Souls-like game.
