Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Ada Wong in Separate Ways DLC
Image via Capcom

One of the best-reviewed games of the year is officially tainted with microtransactions

WHY, CAPCOM?!

Microtransactions are viewed by many as a scourge upon gaming, and they’ve somehow weaseled their way into one of 2023’s very best releases.

Recommended Videos

Few people would expect to see microtransactions in a game like Resident Evil 4 Remake, but Capcom sneakily added the option to pay real cash for in-game upgrades with a recent DLC update. It’s a minor microtransaction crime, to be fair, but that isn’t stopping fans from reacting in outrage. Responses online already paint a picture of the move’s broad unpopularity, as gamers blast the addition as “awful” and a “disgusting surprise.”

Snuck in alongside the free Mercenaries mode DLC, Capcom added in 11 fresh pieces of paid DLC titled “Exclusive Upgrade Tickets.” Similar to the tickets players can trade for in later stages of the game — using in-game currency, rather than real-world bucks — these tickets, which cost $2.99 a pop, unlock exclusive upgrades for any of the game’s weapons. Typically, in order to secure a weapon’s exclusive upgrade, players would need to spend pesetas on each of the gun’s upgrades — to ammo capacity, power, and such — before the exclusive option even becomes available. At that point, once each of the gun’s areas is completely maxed out, players have the option to drop even more money — in the tens of thousands range, at a minimum — to secure the final, exclusive perk.

With the microtransaction addition, players can side-step the typical peseta hoarding and instead just drop a few bucks to upgrade their weapon(s) of choice. They can unlock the exclusive upgrade without adding any of the other upgrades to their weapon, and additionally lean on the upgrade “across all of your saved data,” according to the DLC description.

Players can drop $2.99 on a single ticket or grab them up in packs of three or five, according to Video Game Chronicle. While this appears to be the only microtransaction element of the highly-reviewed game, it’s still broadly unpopular among fans, who are blasting the decision by Capcom online. Most people seem largely baffled by the move, as just a bit of extra effort — and treasure hunting — in-game will allow for the exact same payoff. Why even add in microtransactions in the first place?

Complaints aren’t likely to change Capcom’s mind, and at least the microtransactions aren’t rampant, but still. A game like Resident Evil 4 is more than capable of standing all on its own, but Capcom’s addition of a hugely-unpopular modern gaming practice certainly leaves a sour taste. And, despite their status as unnecessary, unexpected, and entirely unwanted, it seems microtransactions in Resident Evil 4 are here to stay.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila Bonfiglio
Nahila carefully obsesses over all things geekdom and gaming, bringing her embarrassingly expansive expertise to the team at We Got This Covered. She is a Staff Writer and occasional Editor with a focus on comics, video games, and most importantly 'Lord of the Rings,' putting her Bachelors from the University of Texas at Austin to good use. Her work has been featured alongside the greats at NPR, the Daily Dot, and Nautilus Magazine.