The recent Resident Evil 4 update from Capcom, which brought the Mercenaries mode, also brought with it controversial microtransaction “DLC”s, leaving fans angry and fuming.
The Mercenaries DLC for Resident Evil 4 came out last April 7, 2023. It brought with it the fan-favorite Mercenaries mode, which allowed players to play as their favorite characters and just shoot zombies down. What players didn't expect, however, was that Capcom would introduce controversial microtransactions to Resident Evil 4. These come in the form of Weapon Exclusive Upgrade Tickets.
For those not familiar, let me bring you up to date. All of the weapons in Resident Evil 4 have an Exclusive Perk or Upgrade. These give various effects to the weapons, varying from increased ammo capacity to increased penetration and power, and even infinite ammo. To unlock these Exclusive Perks, however, the player must buy all of the upgrades for a weapon. The player can then buy the Exclusive Perk. To bypass this, the player can buy an Exclusive Upgrade Ticket from The Merchant for 40 Spinels, which the player can get from accomplishing Merchant Tasks, as well as finding them occasionally in the overworld.
When The Mercenaries launched, however, players could get Exclusive Upgrade Ticekts in another way. Instead of buying them for Spinels, players can instead go over to the respective stores (PlayStation, Xbox, PC) and buy the Exclusive Upgrade Tickets as DLC microtransactions. Players can buy one ticket for $2.99, three for $6.99, and 5 for $9.99. What's even more interesting is that you can only buy a specific amount of each, thanks to how the DLCs were named. Players can buy six of the single tickets, four of the three packs, and one of the five packs. That's a total of 23 Exclusive Upgrade Tickets or the total number of weapons with Exclusive Perks in the game. That means if players don't want to spend a lot of Pesetas, they can spend $55.44 instead to unlock all exclusive perks.
This has drawn the ire of numerous fans. Some fans called it a pay-to-win feature, as it lets people skip most of the weapon upgrade grind. Others are questioning why a single-player game would need microtransactions like this. Others are even bringing up that this will make speed runs even faster. As much as it has drawn the ire and anger of some fans, others are defending it. The biggest reason seems to be that players like the option of not having to grind for exclusive upgrades. The Chicago Sweeper, for example, has infinite ammo as its Exclusive Perk. As such players don't mind paying some money to use that immediately. Others are saying that since the tickets are available in every save, it's fine. It's not like other microtransactions that require players to buy items over and over again.
Either way, microtransaction DLCs in Resident Evil games are not new. Resident Evil Village had a purchasable DLC that gave players resources early on. Resident Evil 2 also allowed players to unlock all extra content immediately by paying. Whether or not this gives players an unfair advantage is up for debate, as these games are primarily single-player. After all, players can definitely beat this game without buying any of these tickets. Even if they did, it's not like it will lead to an instant game clear. In the end, it's up to the player if they will keep supporting this practice.
That's all the information we have about the microtransaction DLC Capcom introduced to Resident Evil 4. You can check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.
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