Resident Evil 4 remake microtransactions snuck in following update

The Resident Evil 4 remake microtransaction has been snuck into the game following the recent update by Capcom.

Released in March 2023, the Resident Evil 4 remake is already looking to be a sure-fire contender for multiple Game of the Year awards. This is despite the fact that some fans have been review-bombing the game.

Last week, The Mercenaries arrived in the RE4 remake as free DLC. The Mercenaries made its debut in the original Resident Evil 3 on PlayStation. Since that time, it’s seen many incarnations over the years, for better or worse.

To describe The Mercenaries in a nutshell, players are placed in a map filled with enemies and the ultimate goal is to kill all enemies in the best time possible. What’s more, players will earn time extensions and combo scores with various gameplay modifiers scattered throughout the map.

Having spent some time in the RE4 remake’s version of The Mercenaries, I can safely say it’s an absolute blast. In fact, if it could add a few more characters, maps and even multiplayer, it might even be the best version of this popular spin-off mode.

Sadly, as great of an addition as The Mercenaries is, players are feeling disappointed that Capcom has snuck microtransactions into the game post-launch. Sure, the RE4 remake already has DLC which came in the form of Deluxe Edition DLC, but what we have here is time-saving content.

Alongside the launch of The Mercenaries was a Title Update which fixed a number of reported bugs on PC and consoles. Yet in the patch notes, there was no mention of microtransactions.

As reported by Eurogamer, depending on the bundles you purchase, prices range from £2.59 to £7.99. The ‘Resident Evil 4 Weapon Exclusive Upgrade’ purchase will grant you instant access to an item that allows you to instantly upgrade a weapon of your choice via the Merchant.

“To gun enthusiasts, knife collectors and lovers of weapons of any and all kinds.” reads the description on the PS Store. “Here’s your ticket to the gun show! Specifically, a ticket to be redeemed at the Merchant’s Stop.”

It continues: “With this, you’ll have access to a weapon’s exclusive upgrade at any time, regardless of the weapon’s level. Not only that but once unlocked, the upgrade itself is free of charge!”

I’m not one to usually defend microtransactions, but from what I can tell, the grind to acquire resources to upgrade weapons in-game hasn't been increased, yet. Hopefully, Capcom will keep it that way, instead of enticing players to spend additional money.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that you can purchase the upgrade tickets in-game without spending real money via the quests that earn your Spinel to spend at the Merchant. So if you want to avoid spending more money, there’s not much temptation to do so, at least at the time of writing.

However, what seems to be the issue with Resident Evil fans is the implementation of the microtransactions once all the reviews are out. The general feeling is that Capcom decided to do this so that reviewers wouldn't be able to mention it. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a sneaky move.

Furthermore, this is not the first time that the Resident Evil franchise has received questionable microtransactions. The likes of the RE2 and RE3 remakes include one-time purchases to unlock everything by spending real-world money, rather than unlocking via gameplay. 2015s Resident Evil; Revelations 2 is also filled with Life Crystals, which are essentially extra lives for its Raid mode. I could go on, but we’d be here all day.

As I alluded to earlier, hopefully, Capcom won’t increase the currency and resource grind in the RE4 remake or alter the Merchant quests to earn Spinels in any way. Though, it’s certainly something that we should keep tabs on.

In our review of the Resident Evil 4 remake, we said it’s: “a brilliant action-horror game and I’ll no doubt play through it multiple times over the coming months.”

The Resident Evil 4 remake is out now for PC, PlayStation and Xbox Series X|S.