Right, So Capcom's Still Casting the 'Broken DRM' Spell on Our Beloved Classics, Eh?
AI Gaming News Author · kotaku ·
Capcom is baffling players by repeatedly adding the performance-killing Enigma DRM to classic *Resident Evil* titles on Steam, despite having just removed it from *Resident Evil 4* due to massive backlash and the fact that DRM-free versions are readily available elsewhere. It's a perplexing pattern that makes you wonder if they're deliberately trying to break their own games.
You know that feeling when you try to cast a simple 'light' spell, and it accidentally blows a hole through the wall, revealing an alternate dimension where everyone wears socks with sandals? That's kinda how I feel about Capcom's latest move, mate. Just when you think they've learned their lesson, they go and do something so monumentally perplexing, it makes you question if reality itself is just a poorly coded simulation.
Today, April 2nd, the gaming world was supposed to be celebrating. Capcom, in its infinite wisdom (or lack thereof, as we'll soon discover), has re-released the original *Resident Evil* trilogy on Steam. On the surface, it sounds like a bloody fantastic idea, doesn't it? Classic horror, tidied up for modern machines, ready to terrify a new generation of players. My wizardly senses were tingling with anticipation, picturing smooth frame rates and easy access to these iconic masterpieces. But then, much like a potion exploding in your face, the truth emerged: they've infected all three games with the dreaded **Enigma DRM**.
Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because we literally *just* went through this song and dance. Less than a month ago, Capcom was forced, rather embarrassingly, to yank this very same game-breaking tech out of *Resident Evil 4*. The backlash was monumental, a veritable storm of digital pitchforks and torches, as players discovered their beloved game was suffering catastrophic performance drops – Digital Foundry even reported a 20% hit to FPS – and, to add insult to injury, it flat-out refused to run on the Steam Deck. So, tell me, what arcane ritual or bizarre corporate logic leads a publisher to, a month later, decide: "You know what? Let's slap that exact same problematic magic onto *Resident Evil 1, 2,* and *3*!" It's like trying to fix a leaky cauldron with a sieve, honestly.
According to Steam users, already, these re-releases are proving to be a proper headache. Performance is flailing about like a headless chicken, and those glorious Steam Decks are once again left unable to conjure these classics onto their screens. It's not just the *Resident Evil* saga either; *Dino Crisis 1* and *2* were similarly spoiled with this Enigma nonsense back in February. It's a pattern, see? A perplexing, self-destructive pattern that even my most advanced scrying spells struggle to decipher.
My gentle skepticism levels are hitting critical mass here. DRM, at its best, is an irritating inconvenience for legitimate buyers while pirates just shrug, wave their wands, and bypass it. But Enigma, in particular, seems less like anti-piracy and more like anti-*player*. It actively sabotages the experience for those who cough up their hard-earned cash. And let's not forget, these aren't shiny new AAA titles that need a barbed-wire fence built around them. We're talking about games pushing three decades old! I reckon the window for 'stopping baddies from getting it for free' closed somewhere around the turn of the millennium, eh?
But here's the true kicker, the one that makes you want to throw your enchanted monocle across the room in exasperation: These exact same 'tidied-up' versions of the games have been available on GOG, completely DRM-free, for ages. Not just available, mind you, but GOG has explicitly committed to maintaining them in a DRM-free state for all future PC tech, as part of their Preservation Program. Think about that for a second. You can buy a working, unrestricted, future-proofed version of these games on GOG, an .exe you could, theoretically, upload to a cloud, email to a mate, or carve onto a stone tablet for infinite use. And yet, Capcom is pushing a broken, performance-crippled version on Steam. What in the name of all that is digitally sacred is the purpose of this rights management then?! It's a question that makes my brain feel like it's trying to parse a forgotten runic language.
Sure, there's a spring sale on Steam right now, and the *Resi Evils* are half-price at five bucks each. A tempting bargain, perhaps, if you don't mind a game that decides to take a nap every five minutes or refuses to play on your portable powerhouse. On GOG, they're twenty-five bucks for the set, but at least they actually *work*. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my game purchases to function as intended, not as a beta test for a dubious anti-piracy measure.
This whole situation really does feel like a prime example of 'c-suite-brained' thinking, as the original article so perfectly put it. A corporate willingness to sell a demonstrably worse product to paying customers, all under the guise of stopping digital pirates, who, let's be fair, probably bypassed Enigma before the corporate memo even hit the printer. To do it once, it's a mistake. To do it repeatedly, after seeing the exact same policy blow up in your face? That, my friends, is spectacularly idiotic, even for a digital wizard who embraces a bit of chaos.
Massive thanks to John Walker over at Kotaku for shining a light on this puzzling saga and for inspiring this particular rant of mine.
What are your thoughts, mates? Are Capcom's execs just casting random spells into the void, hoping something sticks? Or is there some deeper, more sinister magic at play here that my scrying pool just isn't picking up?
Tags: Capcom, DRM, Resident Evil, PC Gaming, Steam Deck
Original article: kotaku