{"id":1814602,"date":"2026-03-08T17:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T14:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814602"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T14:27:30","slug":"capcom-quietly-removes-drm-system-it-added-to-3-year-old-resident-evil-4-remake-last-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814602","title":{"rendered":"Capcom quietly removes DRM system it added to 3-year-old Resident Evil 4 Remake last month"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/resident-evil-4-remake\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Resident Evil 4 Remake<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Capcom quietly removes DRM system it added to 3-year-old Resident Evil 4 Remake last month<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Let it zombie.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/RE4-site_iJmPSCc.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"resident evil 4 remake key art - Leon wields a gun as enemies attack.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"RE4-site_iJmPSCc.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Capcom<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1533038852.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Vikki Blake avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1533038852.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/vikki-blake\">Vikki Blake<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-08T17:27:30+00:00\">March 8, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"a41d2298-de52-422f-9f25-e819e6adaf75\" data-name=\"Resident Evil 4 Remake\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Resident Evil 4 Remake\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Resident Evil 4 Remake\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake\" title=\"Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake\"><br \/>\n  Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Capcom has seemingly removed a controversial new DRM system from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/resident-evil-4-remake\">Resident Evil 4 Remake<\/a> on Steam after players reported it was negatively impacting performance.<\/p>\n<p>While not formally announced by the developer, an update to the game&#8217;s Steam database, captured by <a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/2050650\/history\/\">SteamDB<\/a> on 3rd March, prompted fans to notice that the game&#8217;s Enigma anti-piracy system \u2013 introduced in February \u2013 had been removed once more.<\/p>\n<p>As spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=N0TTbdff_vE\">Digital Foundry<\/a>, Enigma&#8217;s addition to the almost three-year-old game last month almost instantly dragged CPU performance, particularly during cutscenes on lower-end systems.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" data-embed-height=\"240\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/enigma_drm_has_been_removed_from_resident_evil_4\/\">Enigma DRM has been removed from Resident Evil 4 Remake<\/a><br \/> by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/MedievalTavern\/\">u\/MedievalTavern<\/a> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/\">Games<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Updating years-old software with new DRM is just stupid,&#8221; Alex Battaglia said in a DF video on the topic.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Like, stop \u2013 don&#8217;t do that in the first place. Regardless of any possible performance degradations, what it&#8217;ll do to your game is just piss off your audience. It&#8217;ll make your modding scene really upset.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While PC players are relieved that Capcom has removed Enigma, most are left wondering why the change was made in the first place, and if there&#8217;s any possibility that this will happen again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about Enigma, DRM they added <em>after<\/em> release, as a public experimentation with a new, cheaper DRM,&#8221; explained one player on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/comment\/o8e0bb6\/\">Reddit<\/a>. &#8220;That DRM proved to be completely useless and detrimental, so they removed it. It&#8217;s not the first time they&#8217;ve done this with Enigma and this was just the latest public experiment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m guessing they&#8217;ll add it back if they figure out how to avoid the huge performance drop it was causing,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/comment\/o8dg1x6\/\">lamented<\/a> someone else.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Capcom revealed Resident Evil Requiem has already surpassed 5m sales in less than a week. Meanwhile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/resident-evil-games-order\">Resident Evil series<\/a> as a whole has shifted over 183m units as of 31st December.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Capcom has seemingly removed a controversial new DRM system from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/resident-evil-4-remake\">Resident Evil 4 Remake<\/a> on Steam after players reported it was negatively impacting performance.<\/p>\n<p>While not formally announced by the developer, an update to the game&#8217;s Steam database, captured by <a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/2050650\/history\/\">SteamDB<\/a> on 3rd March, prompted fans to notice that the game&#8217;s Enigma anti-piracy system \u2013 introduced in February \u2013 had been removed once more.<\/p>\n<p>As spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=N0TTbdff_vE\">Digital Foundry<\/a>, Enigma&#8217;s addition to the almost three-year-old game last month almost instantly dragged CPU performance, particularly during cutscenes on lower-end systems.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" data-embed-height=\"240\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/enigma_drm_has_been_removed_from_resident_evil_4\/\">Enigma DRM has been removed from Resident Evil 4 Remake<\/a><br \/> by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/MedievalTavern\/\">u\/MedievalTavern<\/a> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/\">Games<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Updating years-old software with new DRM is just stupid,&#8221; Alex Battaglia said in a DF video on the topic.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Like, stop \u2013 don&#8217;t do that in the first place. Regardless of any possible performance degradations, what it&#8217;ll do to your game is just piss off your audience. It&#8217;ll make your modding scene really upset.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While PC players are relieved that Capcom has removed Enigma, most are left wondering why the change was made in the first place, and if there&#8217;s any possibility that this will happen again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about Enigma, DRM they added <em>after<\/em> release, as a public experimentation with a new, cheaper DRM,&#8221; explained one player on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/comment\/o8e0bb6\/\">Reddit<\/a>. &#8220;That DRM proved to be completely useless and detrimental, so they removed it. It&#8217;s not the first time they&#8217;ve done this with Enigma and this was just the latest public experiment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m guessing they&#8217;ll add it back if they figure out how to avoid the huge performance drop it was causing,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Games\/comments\/1rjgema\/comment\/o8dg1x6\/\">lamented<\/a> someone else.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Capcom revealed Resident Evil Requiem has already surpassed 5m sales in less than a week. Meanwhile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/resident-evil-games-order\">Resident Evil series<\/a> as a whole has shifted over 183m units as of 31st December.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Resident Evil 4 Remake Capcom quietly removes DRM system it added to 3-year-old Resident Evil 4 Remake last month Let it zombie. Image credit: Capcom News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on March 8, 2026 Follow Resident Evil 4 Remake Capcom has seemingly removed a controversial new DRM system from Resident Evil 4 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1814602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1814602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1814602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1814602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1814602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}