Denuvo has asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for permission to subpoena Discord, Valve, and Reddit for information on the anonymous hacker known as "voices38," whom it accuses of bypassing its DRM on 26 games.

The subpoena request, filed this week, follows a DMCA anti-circumvention lawsuit Denuvo filed in September against voices38 in U.S. federal court. A complaint obtained by TorrentFreak details the scale of the alleged circumvention. Denuvo's lawyers admit they do not know whether voices38 is one person or a group — the screenname is the only identifier they hold.

What does the lawsuit allege?

Denuvo accuses voices38 of defeating its anti-tamper technology across 26 titles, and not just recent releases. The hacker is also cracking older games, which suggests the technique structurally undermines how Denuvo works rather than exploiting one-off weaknesses in individual builds.

That distinction matters commercially. Denuvo maintains a policy of no refunds if its security is beaten, so publishers who licensed the DRM for cracked titles carry the cost regardless. A repeatable, general-purpose crack threatens the product's core value proposition to publishers and developers.

The year has already been punishing for the Austria-based DRM provider. Cracked titles include:

• Resident Evil Requiem
• Stellar Blade
• 007 First Light
• Doom: The Dark Ages

Several of these were cracked at release or shortly after launch, rather than months later, which had been the historical pattern for Denuvo-protected games.

Why is Denuvo turning to Discord, Valve and Reddit?

Because the lawsuit named a pseudonym, Denuvo needs the platform operators to supply identifying information — account records, IP logs, payment details — before it can pursue the defendant. The company is asking the court to compel Discord, Valve, and Reddit to hand over whatever data they hold on voices38's accounts.

Voices38 remains active and apparently unbothered. The hacker continues to post on Reddit, commenting: "All is fine. Everything will continue as normal."

All that remains is for a judge to decide whether the subpoenas can proceed.

What changes for publishers and developers?

For studios licensing Denuvo, the calculus is straightforward. The DRM's commercial pitch rests on protecting the launch window, when sales concentrate and piracy's revenue impact is highest. Consistent cracks at or near release erode that window and, combined with the no-refund policy, shift the risk of failure entirely onto the licensee.

The stakes are also reputational in the other direction. Denuvo remains controversial among PC players, many of whom argue the DRM measurably degrades game performance and are openly cheering the cracking effort. Publishers weighing Denuvo must balance piracy protection against that segment of player sentiment.

For Denuvo's parent Irdeto, the lawsuit is a defensive move with two possible outcomes: identification of the actor behind the cracks, or a legal record showing the company actively pursues circumvention — a signal to licensees even if the unmasking fails.

What happens next?

The California court's ruling on the subpoenas is the immediate pivot. If granted, Discord, Valve, and Reddit would face binding demands for user data tied to voices38's accounts; if denied, Denuvo's lawsuit stalls against a defendant it cannot name. Watch the judge's decision — and whether voices38's cracking pace against new releases slows in the meantime.