A surprise PC update has pushed Resident Evil 4 Remake into a noticeably worse state than it used to be, and the culprit appears to be a new DRM layer. According to Digital Foundry testing, adding Enigma Protector has introduced a substantial CPU-side hit in multiple scenarios, reducing game throughput by a huge margin on certain setups. The timing is awkward, too: the RE Engine has been criticised for uneven performance in recent years, but Resident Evil 4 Remake was one of the cleaner, more stable examples – until now.

Capcom’s RE Engine has picked up a messy reputation on PC lately, with loud complaints around titles like Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon’s Dogma 2. Even so, the engine has generally held up far better in more linear experiences, and Resident Evil 4 Remake was widely seen as a strong performer in that category. That changed after a recent, unexpected update to the PC version, which has effectively left the game worse off than it was at launch.

Digital Foundry tech analyst Alex Battaglia didn’t mince words about the decision itself, saying: “Updating years old software with new DRM is stupid”. And the measurements back up why players are upset, because the impact is not subtle.

Digital Foundry testing points to major CPU throughput losses

Based on Digital Foundry analysis cited by WCCFTech, a build featuring a Ryzen 5 3600 paired with an GeForce RTX 4070 Super shows a dramatic drop in CPU game throughput after Enigma Protector is introduced – roughly 40% in some scenarios. The gap narrows in the Village fight, where enemy AI shifts the bottleneck and the hit comes in closer to 20%, but the performance penalty remains present elsewhere.

WCCFTech notes this isn’t the first time Capcom has made a move like this. Similar changes have previously hit older releases such as Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 5, triggering a wave of backlash. As YouTube user @chemeergency put it: “Retroactively implementing new DRM over old DRM is insanely anticonsumer.” The article also argues the strategy can be self-defeating, because players who want the best performance may be tempted to seek versions that run better.

With Resident Evil Requiem on the horizon, the obvious question is whether new entries will face the same problem. The article says the game is confirmed to use Denuvo on PC, including the standard five-activation limit. While Denuvo has its own controversies, its performance footprint is generally lighter than Enigma Protector. The hope is that Capcom takes the lesson here: “protecting” older games by making them run worse is a fast way to lose goodwill.

Forrás: WCCFTech