The unprotected version of Final Fantasy XV runs better than the Steam version. For this comparison dso gaming used an Intel i7 4930K (overclocked at 4.2Ghz) with 8GB RAM, NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti, Windows 10 64-bit and the latest version of the GeForce drivers. Both the Steam and a not so legal version were installed on an HDD.

Right from the start, the pirated version loads faster than the Steam version. The Steam version needed 30 seconds in order to launch (for the first time) whereas the pirated version was ready in just 3 seconds reports dsogaming. The second launch (by exiting and then re-launching the game immediately) needed 8 seconds for the Steam version, whereas the pirated version was – once again – ready in 3 seconds. The in-game maps also loads faster in the pirated version (58 seconds versus 1 minute and 40 seconds).

Below you can find a video with the loading times for both the pirated and the Steam versions. The Steam version also suffers from additional stuttering. While they did notice very minor stutters on the pirated version, things were a lot worse on the Steam version. By taking a closer look at the CPU/GPU/RAM and Disk usage, we can finally discover what is causing these additional stutters. From the looks of it, the Steam version is constantly using the hard disk drive, resulting in random stuttering. 

BTW it certainly is good to see that everybody is appreciating our Afterburner software ;)

Unprotected version of Final Fantasy XV loads faster