Capcom Is Shutting Down Its Own Fans
Capcom has allegedly sent cease and desist letters to fans building remakes of its games.
Apparently, Nintendo isn’t the only one wielding a cease-and-desist against its fans; Capcom is doing it too. The developers of impressive remakes of Resident Evil Code: Veronica and the original Resident Evil have announced that Capcom allegedly contacted them and asked them to cancel their remake projects. This news comes months after Yoshikai Hirabayashi, the producer of Resident Evil 4, stated that the company has no interest in remaking the Resident Evil Code: Veronica but that the possibility of a remake isn’t excluded should the opportunity present itself. Has the time finally come?
According to Kotaku, the developers behind the most recent fan remake of Resident Evil Code: Veronica couldn’t disclose their correspondence with Capcom entirely but have stated that the company cited copyright factors and licensing agreements as why the projects couldn’t proceed. In fact, the fan developers disclosed that Capcom sent out two emails to the developers: one inquiring where the animations and models came from and the second email, which was much more hostile, with an aggressive tone. It would seem that Capcom hates sinners but does not shy away from sin.
What’s most interesting about the shutdown remake of Resident Evil Code: Veronica is that over 90% of assets come from Capcom’s recent remakes of the same game, including 3D models, animations, and textures. For those needing more context, the original Resident Evil Code: Veronica was released on Sega Dreamcast in 2000 to a very positive reception. It was later ported to PlayStation 2 and GameCube before witnessing its HD remaster for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. However, while the original game was very well-received upon release, each subsequent re-release wasn’t.
Capcom’s subsequent re-releases of Resident Evil Code: Veronica was callout out due to their aging elements, which actually makes the game a perfect candidate for a complete, top-to-bottom overhaul, similar to the one Capcom has given to other Resident Evil games. Considering that Capcom has denied its fandom a highly-requested game, the fans took it upon themselves to remake the game and release it for free so as not to harm Capcom’s finances or infringe on the company’s IP—which is something Capcom continues to argue.
The fans, on the other hand, believe that the Resident Evil Code: Veronica unofficial remake project was canceled for generating too much public interest and being too “official-looking.” Considering just how much talk the unofficial remake has generated, we wouldn’t be surprised if Capcom finally decides to remaster the game, in which case they allowed fandom to test the waters at their own expense. Those behind the project are apparently a bit surprised by Capcom’s decision, but they have admitted to playing with Capcom’s toys in the company’s sandbox, so the reason for the project’s cancellation isn’t lost.
The team ended their announcement by saying that they won’t continue working on Resident Evil projects, but they will continue developing games and projects whose narrative would be inspired by Resident Evil Code: Veronica, structured in a way that avoids any copyright infringements. Maybe Capcom should do the same.
