While others, even some DRM-loving devs like Square or Capcom, usually removes Denuvo after a couple of months / years, some morons at Tango Gameworks (the devs for Evil Within) and/or Bethesda suddenly decided that it was a good idea to do the exact opposite and instead added Denuvo to the latest update of Ghostwire Tokyo more than a year after release.

Look like the game won't appear on Gog anytime soon...

Aside from being another healthy reminder of how more DRM can be "bait & switched" into games that never originally had it at any time when your only copy of the game is in the 'cloud', I wonder if Microsoft played any part in the decision. Despite the supposed 'hands off' policy, they've clearly 'decided' for Bethesda that Bethesda need to republish their catalogue on the Microsoft Store + Game Pass Integration since the acquisition, and can just as easily 'decide' for them that they need Denuvo (the same way Microsoft added Arxan onto 26 year old Age of Empires...)

Maybe given that the Playstation "exclusivity" that the game had just finished and it's being released at the same time that this update on XBox.

It makes absolutely no sense for Bethesda to do something like this.

I also wonder if this is b/c of a few things
1. The new content update.
2. If gamers might be finding ways to unlock the entire game, well after downloading the game legitimately from Game Pass, since now gamers in many instances can access game-folders from Xbox Game Pass now (SIDE NOTE - Accessing game-folders for games from Windows Store/Xbox PC App/Xbox PC GamePass game was NOT the case until recent updates, a year or so ago - even many games on Xbox Game Pass/Game App don't allow access to this).
3. If there are planned paid-DLC's and/or paid-expansions coming.

We know also SecureDLC is something recent from Irdeto (Denuvo's makers), which claims to stop DLC-unlockers and any things of that pirating-sort which can find ways around giving a gamer permissions to utilize DLC's they might not even have paid for.

So, if #2 and #3 are a thing here - I wonder if they'll be using SecureDLC.

That game has a trash official mistranslation anyway, of which the real legit original script was censored for ideological reasons when it was purposely mistranslated in the English version, the doing of which instantly makes it into a trash game that is never worth buying, 100% regardless of whether or not it has Denuvo.

Denuvo in that game is a moot point for that reason. But it's even worse than that quoted statement makes it sound, as it's not always mere "republishing" that occurs.

For example, the Steam and GOG versions of The Evil Within 1 are both trashy crap versions, whereas the good quality version is exclusive to Game Pass, and has been so for years, and probably will remain so forever (or until Game Pass as a service dies, by which point in time the Steam and GOG versions will probably still be the inferior crap versions then too, even when the good version is no longer playable anywhere).

Denuvo has been removed from Ghostwire on Steam:
-> https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/denuvo-has-been-removed-from-ghostwire-tokyo/

Let's hope and pray that this is a sign that it could come to GOG later down the road.

Thats a weird move given that Ghostwire was also a really mid game.

I like the world building and concept of the game but damn did the gameplay itself suck. The free Spider's web DLC did add some new moves (and an actual dodge) that made the game better but it was still a mid game which is a shame because I loved the concept of a modern Tokyo with folklore yokai. Do you know anything specific in their mistranslations? I played it with English text but Japanese speech and definitely did find some mistranslations and dialogue that just wasnt translated into English at times. It made sense from a cultural perspective for me since giving a proper translation would have labelled the game as "weird" and "cringe" for western audiences though unfortunately.

I don't think it's weird removing Denuvo, as many games do remove Denuvo namely b/c they just don't want to pay for the subscription fees for having it equipped, after a while.

Plus, if they're going to later be bringing any game to GOG, that Denuvo check has to be removed.

The weird move was to introduce Denuvo way after release of the game and remove it again only one year later.
To me it sounds like they bought a 1-year license, maybe just to test out things for their next project.

IIRC, did Doom Eternal the same thing, too.- i.e. added Denuvo later.

We know Denuvo has newer features to try to protect DLC's & added content too now - https://irdeto.com/denuvo/securedlc/

Cool! But unfortunately it seems like quite a few games remove Denuvo but don't end up coming to GOG.

Maybe just not enough money to be made here or fear of explicitly/openly being DRM-free.

I blame jacked up third-world game prices for that. If in the past game prices were adjusted for income levels to reduce piracy, even here at GOG they used to have "fair game pricing" scheme (long gone by now) but in the past couple of years steam (gog even earlier) and other gaming platforms with relatively fair regional prices have jacked them by several factors, if not magnitudes due to grey market sellers, way beyond the means of the locals in those said poor countries. So poor folk have little choice now, piracy is on the rise again so DRM is the crutch gaming publishers resort to to stop losing revenues.

I LOVE those Japanese TV shows like Kowabana and Semitsu as well as the real footage stuff that gets caught. Correct me if I am wrong but this game is an homage to those and other more minimalist Japanese Horror TV and film right?
So this being correctly translated with all the naming and everything done right would appeal to me yes? Maybe I should just buy the Japanese version. As a gamer, I consider myself VERY Japanese in taste and I would rather be treated as anything but a Westerner whenever a game is translated.

Im not sure about the inspiration but it likely is Japanese horror like kowabana in contrast to the Evil Within (Tango's other big IP) which seems to be heavily influenced by Western horror.

It might appeal to you since there is alot of Japanese folklore like kappa or tengu and basically incorporating these old tales into modern Shibuya. I dont think its the most accurate depiction of Shibuya (I like TWEWY for that) but it does a good job.

There is some Japanese urban legends, mostly in the free DLC though. A different interpretation of Hanako-san, the scary school, and "ghost" photo captures that fit the minimalist Japanese horror concept a bit more. Wouldnt really say it was minimalist though like hitokowa, more traditional Japanese scary stories. I recommend seeing some videos to see if you are interested enough to buy though. While I did enjoy the game, I did play it through a streaming service.