As we’ve already reported, Halo 5: Forge and Forza Horizon 3 use Microsoft’s new encrypted protection system. Well, good news for all interested in modding these games as this encryption system has been cracked.
While we won’t go into full details and we won’t share links to where you can find ways to crack this new encryption system, we can confirm that PC gamers can run modified files (as can be seen in the following videos. Do note that the creator of these tools is “Infogram” and not “_Atari_”).
In case you weren’t aware of, Halo 5: Forge and Forza Horizon 3 use a new secure encrypted appx format. As such, the files for those games are encrypted and when the user installs these games from the Windows Store, and they get decrypted on-the-fly using the Encrypting File System feature of Windows.
Microsoft implemented this method to protect its future games from piracy, however this new encryption system also affects modding of all games protected by it.
As noted by various users, modders can now read the open processes memory giving them an entrypoint into deciphering how the files inside the apps are arranged and named, something that will hopefully help them mod these – and all future – games.
Some users reported that this protection system was to be blamed for Forza Horizon 3’s performance issues, however there isn’t any proof about such a thing.
For what is worth, there aren’t currently any mods for Forza Horizon 3.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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