Troublesome anti-tamper software leaves town
Capcom has quietly removed the controversial Denuvo DRM software from the PC edition of its acclaimed release Resident Evil Village. A new update, initially spotted by DSOG, seemingly frees the survival horror sequel of the anti-tamper software that had reportedly been causing frustrating performance issues.
When Resident Evil Village first launched for PC in May of 2021, players were disappointed to find the title laden with problems, from frame rate drops to stuttering audio and other random bugs. Players pointed to the resource-heavy DRM software which, it was claimed, was gobbling up vital resources needed to operate the visually splendid adventure. These accusations were offered validity after “cracked” editions of the sequel stripped the game of its DRM and were seen to run far smoother.
Capcom has previously removed the Denuvo software from other games in its Steam catalog, including the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, as well as hack ‘n’ slasher Devil May Cry 5. So why has it taken almost two years for Village to follow suit? Cynically, one could suggest that Denuvo is only being added to scare off early pirates, with Capcom essentially pulling the tech once it believes that a title’s “honeymoon period” is over. Regardless, if you have been holding off purchasing Village on PC because of the Denuvo factor, then it seems that the concern is no more. It will be interesting to see if everybody playing on that platform suddenly starts reporting a much-improved gameplay experience.
Resident Evil Village is available now on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.
