Empress (software cracker)

Empress (sometimes stylized EMPRESS) is a video game cracker who specializes in breaking anti-piracy software. While the true identity of Empress is unknown, she refers to herself as a young Russian woman. Empress has also released cracked games under the moniker C000005. Empress is known as one of the few crackers who can crack Denuvo. Her motivation is to remove the software license aspect of digital games in an effort to preserve them after developers drop support. Empress also states that removing digital rights management (DRM) increases performance in-game. In late 2025, Empress announced that she would retire from cracking Denuvo-protected games, and a long statement titled End of an Era – EMPRESS circulated among her followers describing health issues and disillusionment with the piracy scene as reasons for her decision.