Resident Evil 4 Gets Microtransactions for Instant Weapon Upgrades

The Resident Evil 4 remake is already earning CAPCOM a lot of money. Last week we reported that the game had sold three million units in the first two days since its launch; today, the Japanese company happily announced that the four million milestone has already gone by.

CAPCOM is seemingly looking to capitalize on that even further with the addition of microtransactions to Resident Evil 4. As first spotted by Wario64, players are now given the option to purchase weapon exclusive upgrade tickets that are redeemed at the in-game merchant shop, instantly unlocking a weapon's exclusive upgrade regardless of its level. The microtransactions are $2.99 each.

Resident Evil 4 now has a bunch of microtransactions for weapon exclusive upgrade tickets pic.twitter.com/jPiw6dOmmj

— Wario64 (@Wario64) April 7, 2023

Resident Evil 4 isn't the first single player game to get microtransactions, but it feels like CAPCOM could have done without them, given how well the game is performing financially. Earlier this week, the company stock hit an all-time high on the heels of this game's highly successful launch, the latest in a long streak by CAPCOM.

Resident Evil 4 also received widespread critical acclaim. Here on Wccftech, Nathan Birch rated it 8.5 out of 10:

Now, I have to say, while the tone of the last few paragraphs has been a bit negative, whether we’re talking about the original or the remake, Resident Evil 4 is still a very good game. I may be a bit disappointed by the scope and ambition of Capcom’s reimagining, but RE4 is still one of the most inventive and engaging action-horror games ever made, and this is a competent, technically-impressive new version of the game. The village battle may be largely the same, but it still gets your blood pumping. Same goes for the cabin defense sequence, your showdown with the village chief, or your first encounter with a Regenerator. The RE4 remake is still a fun, bombastic dose of mayhem, I just feel like it had the potential to be even better. It also suffers from the fact that Resident Evil Village was, in some ways, the bigger, crazier take on RE4 that this remake could have been.

That said, there’s still no other game in the series that matches Resident Evil 4 in terms of scope. The game’s campaign will still last you at least 15 hours and potentially more if you want to ferret out every secret and complete the newly added collection of sidequests. Of course, as usual, there’s a New Game+, multiple difficulties, and other unlockable extras to pursue after the credits roll. This is a nostalgia trip RE fans won’t be returning from any time too soon.

Resident Evil 4 players can now check out the free Mercenaries DLC if they're already done with the campaign. There are also plenty of mods available on PC, including one that increases the challenge level beyond the game's default settings.

Written by Alessio Palumbo