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Capcom removes Denuvo DRM from Resident Evil Village on Steam

Denuvo's anti-piracy software has widely been reported to be the cause of several issues on the PC version of Resident Evil Village.

TJ Denzer

April 10, 2023 8:45 AM

Image via Capcom

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It would appear that Capcom has quietly removed Denuvo DRM protection from Resident Evil Village. The controversial anti-piracy software has been the source of many a complaint in various games throughout the previous decades, and such was the case for Resident Evil Village as well. However, several sources have reported Denuvo being removed from the Steam version of RE Village about two years following the game’s release in 2021.

The removal of Resident Evil Village’s Denuvo DRM protection was first spotted by Dark Side of Gaming, and then further confirmed by SteamDB. The latter in particular noted the following change to Resident Evil Village on Steam on April 10, 2023:

With Steam being the only platform on which Resident Evil Village is available on PC, this would be the only form of the game with Denuvo protection.

Denuvo has often been criticized for being the source of performance and technical issues in video games to which its anti-piracy software is applied. That case was proven for Resident Evil Village in 2021 shortly after the game’s release, from which Capcom promised to update the game and smooth out performance issues allegedly caused by Denuvo. Resident Evil Village is also the latest in a series of Capcom games that have had Denuvo applied and then later removed; a list that now includes Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 remake, and Monster Hunter World.

It’s worth noting that the highly applauded Resident Evil 4 remake also has Denuvo DRM. However, our own David Craddock reported minimal performance issues in his playthrough on PC, even going as far as saying it’s the best way to play the game.

Nonetheless, those who were pushed away from Resident Evil Village by the issues with Denuvo have good reason to give it another try. It’s not the best Resident Evil game, but it’s still a pretty good game. Stay tuned for more updates on the Resident Evil franchise right here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.