Capcom programmer Taro Yahagi argues that mods work like cheats and can cause problems.

A Capcom programmer has argued that user-made mods should be banned for its PC games. Because, on a technical level, they are no different from fraud programs.

As spotted by PCGamesN, the announcement was made during a presentation at Capcom’s Open Conference last week.

In a discussion about anti-cheating and anti-piracy measures in PC games, programmer Taro Yahagi explained that while some players use mods to improve their games, they are fundamentally no different from cheat tools and other malicious modifications.

Yahagi noted that while “mods are popular with users because they allow them to add or change different features to an existing game,” anti-cheat and anti-piracy software must block them because they are implemented in the same way.

On a slide asking, “Should mods be targeted in anti-cheat/anti-piracy programs?”, Yahagi noted, “We define all mods as cheats unless officially supported.” He added: “What they are doing internally is nothing but fraud”.

Narrating the slides, he explained: “From the point of view of anti-cheating and anti-piracy, all mods are defined as cheats. This means that mods not officially supported by the game are impossible to distinguish from cheats in terms of implementation.”

While acknowledging that “the majority of mods can have a positive impact on the game”, Yahagi pointed out that “some mods can be detrimental to the company, both in terms of reputation and workload”.

Some mods, he argues, “violate public order and morality.” They can be “mistaken for legitimate implementations”, giving Capcom bad publicity.

He said that malicious or buggy mods could add to Capcom’s workload. This is because affected players can use the publisher’s support resources when trying to investigate and resolve issues that are not necessarily present in the stock game.

Capcom has received criticism in the past. For example, when the controversial Denuvo added anti-counterfeiting technology to some of its Steam games. Among them for 2021’s Resident Evil Village. The April 2023 Village update finally removed Denuvo.

According to Yahagi, the company’s RE Engine, which it uses for most of its games, has its own security module. This offers a “unified anti-cheat and anti-piracy policy” that can be developed and improved for each new game.

Source: PCGamesN