Last month, Capcom took a contentious step regarding the digital rights management (DRM) implemented in the 2023 remake of *Resident Evil 4* on Steam. The company substituted the previous DRM with Enigma, which had earlier faced backlash for inflicting considerable performance problems in games, a fact that quickly became evident for *RE4* players. After this alteration, numerous users recorded severe declines in frame rates, especially during action-packed moments, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction.
Within a mere few weeks of the alteration, Capcom was met with players expressing their discontent online. Prominent content creators, such as YouTuber ItalicMaze, employed mods to revert their game versions, providing a side-by-side analysis with and without the newly introduced Enigma DRM. Their results highlighted a noticeable decrease in performance, and Digital Foundry corroborated these assertions by indicating an estimated 20% drop in FPS due to the new DRM.
Acknowledging the backlash, Capcom responded promptly. On March 3, only 28 days after the introduction of Enigma, they completely eliminated the problematic DRM from the *Resident Evil 4* remake. This update can be tracked via the changelog on SteamDB, showing a return to a DRM-free status for the game.
This episode is not the first instance of Capcom encountering criticism over DRM concerns. A similar scenario arose with *Resident Evil Village* in 2021, where pirated versions reportedly functioned more smoothly than the official Steam release, which was burdened by DRM protections. Following comparable player dissatisfaction, Capcom removed Denuvo from *Resident Evil Village* in April 2023 without a replacement, unlike the recent *RE4* decision.
Capcom’s recent moves have ignited hope that the publisher may reconsider their stance on DRM in forthcoming titles, particularly in light of the negative publicity and player backlash resulting from this situation. As the gaming community continues to push for enhanced performance and user experiences, it remains to be seen whether this occurrence will impact Capcom’s upcoming decisions regarding digital rights management.
