Halo 5 Forge & Forza Horizon 3 are the first games encrypted with Microsoft's new secure appx format

Last month, it was revealed that Windows 10 would get a more secure encrypted appx format. And it appears that the first games protected by this new encryption tech are already available on Windows Store as both Halo 5: Forge and Forza Horizon 3 use it.

[andresegr]

So NO Mods with Microsoft own new format? Interesting.

They are focusing on the safety of their own platform, just like the PS4 is banning Fallout 4 Mods until the developer makes sure that it wont be affecting the consoles software and/or hardware.

Safety first people.

[mochachino]

So what's it like working for Microsoft?

[andresegr]

Ive been called several things in all my life, but being a Microsoft fanboy is a first!

:-D

[LastCenturyRob]

Mochachino...you realize there was sarcasm with his response, right?

[mochachino]

I don't think you're a MS fanboy at all. Just sounded like a PR response.

[meche334]

Yeah especially with the cross-play. You dont want modders cheating just because they are on pc and your on console

[andresegr]

Exactly.

Case in point, Tekken 7.

THE Developer is against Cross Play of PC with Consoles because the PC Gamers are known to be cheaters!!!

Their words, not mine.

[UltraNova]

Tell me about it...to this day i still come accross PC cheaters on Rocket league and now with the Rumble update it seems some have unlimited use of these features. Try playing against someone who has unlimited spikes or tandem rope...

[Princess_Pilfer]

You could, you know, not let modded games run online. But sure, lets encrypt the game and lock it down so nobody can do anything to it.

[Utalkin2me]

This will last about a month....

[TheColbertinator]

Modding is an important aspect of extending a game's lifespan in the PC world. Microsoft being one of the strongest supporters of DRM and Win10 exclusive lockdown doesn't surprise me however.

They can do as they see fit but I'm not fond of this move.

[meche334]

They don't want mods on the console

[Goldby]

but.. but.. skyrim and fallout

[meche334]

not those simple mods. Im talking mods that will break the game and allow others to cheat @goldby

[XXanderXX]

Can't blame them for wanting to protect their investments & properties

[Errorist76]

Just another reason why GFWL2 won't work out in the end.

[crazychris4124]

Apparently this is hurting the performance of the game.

http://wccftech.com/forza-h...

[SniperControl]

Damn, thanks crazy, been pulling my hair out trying to get this damn thing to run smoothly, my PC can easily do 4K@30(overclocked GTX980ti) but i was suffering from very distracting mirco stutter, so went down to 1080p@60, still same problem, 1080p@30, still experiencing microstutter, currently at medium settings and it seems to be ok, but i'll be dammed if i'am gonna spend £650 on a GPU and CPU to play games at medium settings.

@Meche

While i do have a SSD, it was installed on a HDD.

[meche334]

If you have it on an ssd move it over to the slower hdd. somehow it runs better

[duh1nonly]

I posted this on the FH3 PC support forums over a day ago and had 86 views and no replies. And now I know WHY I can't defrag my damn games HDD!!! FU MS...

"Hi everyone!

I downloaded Forza Horizon 3 recently for PC. I noticed I cannot clean up my games HDD now. It was 100% clean and defragged with 0 fragmented files before Forza Horizon 3 install using the Windows Store App. I now have 4,650+ fragments and 46.2GB of fragmented files on my games HDD.

I am using Piriform Defraggler. It does not defrag the FH3 files. It just leaves them. I cannot manually defrag those selected files as I get the error "Defrag aborted. No files were defragmented."

Usually if a game's files are too big- I manually cut the game folder and move it to my C drive for temp, defrag my game HDD, then paste the game folder back onto my game HDD and it is all together and 100% clean. But when trying to copy or paste FH3 files I get messages about encryption and I cannot move files because I do not have permission (logged in as system admin) and have no choice but to skip files which would lead to a messed up non-working game folder.

I am only in here to ask why can't I defrag this game's files? I have never seen this in 15 years of PC gaming. I'd bet it is some Microsoft DRM/encryption/protection BS. I paid $99 freaking USD for the Ultimate Edition- and now as a legit paying customer I can never have a clean game HDD again? I am not here to listen to "Why does it matter?"/"It doesn't hurt anything"/"It won't improve the game's performance". I just want to know why I cannot move and defrag game files on my HDD on my computer for a game I paid 100 dollars for.

Is there any way to move the files or defrag my game HDD or is it now forever going to be all fragmented to Hell (14%+ fragmented)?

Thank you for any ideas or help!"

[camel_toad]

I haven't pulled the trigger on purchasing this yet only because of the DRM risk to my SSD and reading what it did to your HDD has pretty much set my decision to "NOPE".

That BS is just ridiculous. They're so concerned with DRM that they are ruining people's hardware.

Actually makes me feel sorry for the devs. They worked hard on the game and want it in the hands of as many people as possible but the greedy MS sticks the DRM right up the game's ass - and I know I'm not the only one bothered by the DRM.

[SniperControl]

I wish i'd waited for the PC demo, maybe this is why they didnt have one? I'll give it a week or so to see about any fixes, if no resolution i'll get a refund from ms and pixk it up next year, currently, it's unplayable due to micro stutter.

[EpicSandwich]

Pc gaming is so complicated lol

[TheColbertinator]

Its easy. However it would be much easier if publishers didn't have their heads up their asses.

Once in a while I stop gaming on PC but consoles or portable gaming will never match the greatness of PC.