Last month, ahead of the launch of Resident Evil Requiem, the Resident Evil 4 remake received a surprise update on PC. While the small update did not add any content to the game, it removed the Denuvo DRM protection the game had since launch and replaced it with Enigma DRM, which had a significant impact on performance.
While the community and games media such as Digital Foundry did not hide their disappointment at the practice of updating years-old games just to add DRM that ultimately ruins the experience for those who purchased the game, the lack of communication from CAPCOM suggested that chances of the publisher removing the DRM were nonexistent. Thankfully, the publisher heard the complaints and took action today.
A few hours ago, a new update was pushed for the Steam release of Resident Evil 4 Remake, which removed the Enigma DRM and thus restored the game's performance to the same level it has had since its launch in 2023. At the time of writing, however, it's not yet clear if this new version of the game without the dreaded DRM is compatible again with the game's many mods.
The vocal Resident Evil community made it possible for the removal of the Enigma DRM from the Resident Evil 4 remake, but this isn't the only CAPCOM game that was updated years after launch with it, opening up a variety of issues, including performance drops and breaking mod compatibility. Hopefully, CAPCOM has learned that this practice does nothing but impact its audience, and the Enigma DRM will be removed from other games such as Monster Hunter Rise and Resident Evil 5 and 6 in the future.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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