11 April 2023 , 13:00
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A new update recently brought fan-favourite mode The Mercenaries to Resident Evil 4, but also included was a needless way for players to spend money.
It was all going so well. The remake of Resident Evil 4 released just a few weeks back to commercial and critical acclaim. Capcom’s reworking of Leon S. Kennedy’s classic Spanish adventure has been lauded for how well it recaptured the essence of the 2005 original while giving it a 2023 lick of paint. So beloved is the game that speculation quickly got started about future DLC starring Ada. The Mercenaries minigame finally arrived via a new update, but – admittedly optional – microtransactions have somewhat put a dampener on things.
The microtransactions in question grant players “access to a weapon’s exclusive upgrade at any time” by purchasing tickets that can be traded in at the in-game Merchant. That’s according to the ticket item’s description on official PlayStation, Xbox and PC digital storefronts anyway, which are priced at £2.49 / $2.99 / AU$4.55 each. There are 11 weapons in total that these can be spent on, meaning that in order to instantly unlock every weapon’s best ability, a maximum of £27.39 / $32.89 / AU$50.05 could feasibly be spent; that’s if players choose not to use the three or five ticket pack increments also available.
The good news is that the game’s overall enjoyment factor isn’t contingent on whether players unlock each Resident Evil 4 weapon’s exclusive ability – it’s completely optional. What is particularly egregious, however, is Capcom’s decision to sneak the microtransactions in alongside a beloved DLC mode without warning. And not only that, add them in weeks after reviews of the game have already been published and people have had a chance to purchase the game. Worse still, the tickets don’t even relate to The Mercenaries and must be redeemed in the single-player portion.
Resident Evil 4 being subject to microtransactions is daft but not especially surprising, admittedly. 2020’s Resident Evil Village included a Survival Resources Pack to give players a slightly easier time getting through the game. The Resident Evil 2 remake, meanwhile, made the All In-game Rewards Unlock purchasable to offer players a similarly breezy route through that game.
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Our Resident Evil 4 review called it a “fantastic remake” before The Mercenaries and microtransactions were added, but I can't deny that this latest misstep has left a bad taste in my mouth. This is still a great game, there’s no question, yet I can’t condone the shadiness of how Capcom snuck these purchasable upgrade tickets in weeks after launch. The standard edition of the game retails for £54.99 / $59.99 / AU$99.95 as it is – apparently this isn’t enough.
It's a particular shame seeing as Capcom has been on a hot streak as of late, with Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter World before it and all the recent Resident Evil games being well received by fans and critics alike. Most of which have even gone on to sell in the millions worldwide, entering profitability far quicker than what other publishers would normally only dream of.
Sure, microtransactions are additional funds that would otherwise be left on the table and makes perfect business sense, but it’s still not a good look for Capcom. If they had to be included at all, I would rather have had them included in the game at launch, as then critics and players would be able to assess the game’s positive and negative aspects more fairly in equal balance. For better or worse (but almost certainly worse) these newly added microtransactions mean Resident Evil 4 isn’t the same game it was upon release.