GI.biz: Capcom originally didn't want to distribute DMC4 and other PC Games Digitally due to piracy

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

In an article from Gamesindustry.biz about Piracy , they mentioned an interesting piece of info regarding Capcom and PC

As an example of how cautiously the industry approached digital distribution, Capcom initially refused to digitally distribute the PC version of Devil May Cry 4 or some of its other titles apparently due to piracy concerns. In a rare bit of candor about internal disagreements, the company's North and South American vice president of strategic planning Christian Svensson explained it was explicitly an issue of Capcom Japan not allowing the game to be sold digitally despite his own advice. Capcom Japan eventually came around and Devil May Cry 4 for PC would be released digitally in late 2009.

Click to shrink...

Before the HD Generation , A lot of Capcom output in the PS2/Xbox/GC/DC generation didn't get ported to PC at all and when it did it brought disastrous results like original RE4 port and OG DMC3 port , but starting from the HD Era Capcom started to port and disitribute digitally the vast majority of its games to PC in an incredible quality and became to some the benchmark of PC ports quality at that time , Most of the ports were ported by QLOC IIRC , It was said that Christian Svensson efforts were one of the big reasons that made Capcom Japan port their games to PC and distribute it digitally

Here is a link to the full article

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-08-01-making-the-piracy-problem-worse

 

[texhnolyze]

I bet that's what most Japanese devs think (thought) of PC gaming. Good thing that they finally see the light.

 

[-shadow-]

Times are finally changing, but it's amazing how long so many Japanese developers/publishers were/are stuck in that mindset for so long. Here's hoping moving forward more release their games on the PC, be it new or legacy.

 

[Dreamboum]

Fearing for piracy just ended up with them releasing games 5 years later flr 20€ when they could have released it on the same day for 60. In that srnse they lost a whole lot of money

 

[Hobbesian Thudercat]

Pretty sure this was known and common for a lot of Japanese devs at the time.

 

[Acetown]

Physical PC releases are far easier to pirate lol.

 

[OniluapL]

Capcom came around on it quite quickly, at least in comparison to other companies. Good on them.

 

[Einherjer]

A lot of Capcom output in the PS2/Xbox/GC/DC generation didn't get ported to PC at all and when it did it brought disastrous results like original RE4 port and OG DMC3 port ,

Click to shrink...

Yeah those are legit some of the worst ports in history i was really pissed back then, especially about RE4 it was really horrendous how badly they botched up those games.
Piracy was definitely not the issue back then but their unwillingness to even put a tiny bit of effort in porting these games so no sane pc gamer wanted to touch the crap they where trying to sell.

 

[Aztechnology]

Just what kind of piracy rate do these publishers think there's going to be? Even it it was something crazy like 20%. It still means increased sales, revenue and profits.

 

[KayonXaikyre]

Makes a lot of sense seeing how Denuvo is getting some use from Capcom now a days. I'm glad that's over though. PC basically one of the best platforms to game on now. I remember in the past a lot of games would miss PC and you'd be forced to buy a console for several games. Now though, you find PC has games that are exclusive on consoles but not on PC such as Cuphead, Ori, SFV, and several other third party exclusives that don't cross over between consoles but are available on PC. I still have all the consoles anyway, but it's nice to play 60-144 fps at high res / settings when I can.

 

[nasirum]

Well, yeah. I hope they're understanding that a good product will sell well on PC now though.

 

[Mars People]

What is it with Japan and being completely clueless about PC gaming?

These are huge mega corporations, do they not do research?

 

[Hesemonni]

What is it with Japan and being completely clueless about PC gaming?

These are huge mega corporations, do they not do research?

Click to shrink...

Most people are pretty clueless when discussing piracy and effects of piracy. Just look at this very board and homebrew.

 

[Dick Justice]

Yeah those are legit some of the worst ports in history i was really pissed back then, especially about RE4 it was really horrendous how badly they botched up those games.
Piracy was definitely not the issue back then but their unwillingness to even put a tiny bit of effort in porting these games so no sane pc gamer wanted to touch the crap they where trying to sell.

Click to shrink...

I distinctly recall RE4 launching on PC without any proper lighting lol.

 

[TheEchosOfTheCyborg]

What is it with Japan and being completely clueless about PC gaming?

These are huge mega corporations, do they not do research?

Click to shrink...

Probably didn't help that during the time period Capcom is talking about, devs in the west were pulling crap like Games for Windows, really bad DRM from Ubisoft (that they admitted didn't work but still use it anyway) and stuff like the infamous Online Pass, all while justifying this with trying to stop piracy which... I didn't, it actually encouraged it because of the piss poor service and quality.

No wonder the Japanese side was getting these ideas.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Sven did a lot of good shit at capcom. He even fought for Dino Crisis, but alas. Probably one of the coolest people capcom ever had who interacted with the community.

This is funny to look back at now. Since PC is one of capcoms backbones now and is used to make other ports easier for future use.

 

[kami_sama]

Sven did a lot of good shit at capcom. He even fought for Dino Crisis, but alas. Probably one of the coolest people capcom ever had who interacted with the community.

This is funny to look back at now. Since PC is one of capcoms backbones now and is used to make other ports easier for future use.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, they became one of the best publishers in the PC port quality. Their engine was a beast compared to other ones of the time.

 

[Custódio]

It was said that Christian Svensson efforts were one of the big reasons that made Capcom Japan port their games to PC and distribute it digitally

Click to shrink...

Not all heroes wear capes.

 

[DigSCCP]

I dont know why people are acting surprised.
At that time before Steam boom Capcom was not the only with this concern.
And I would dare say they were right.
Some time after Steam changed the game completely.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Same reason Inticreates won't release Curse of the Moon on GOG.

Lot of Japanese publishers who don't really seem to understand the PC market at all.

 

[Deleted member 2254]

Yeah those are legit some of the worst ports in history i was really pissed back then, especially about RE4 it was really horrendous how badly they botched up those games.
Piracy was definitely not the issue back then but their unwillingness to even put a tiny bit of effort in porting these games so no sane pc gamer wanted to touch the crap they where trying to sell.

Click to shrink...

No joke, their PC output was one of the reasons I went console after 15 years or so of PC. RE was a joke. DMC3 was practically unplayable. Onimusha was a slideshow. Good thing things changed by now, but those were horrible days for PC gamers tbh, most of the interesting games either skipped PC or came with trash ports. To think that most Microsoft games are Play Anywhere games giving you console-quality experience on PC without even having to rebuy games... the days of shitty or non-existent ports seems so far away.

 

[Ada]

Dark souls was the tipping point for a lot of JP devs. When they saw the smashing success of that rush job a lot jumped in.

 

[Holundrian]

Their loss honestly.

 

[Dali]

I bet that's what most Japanese devs think (thought) of PC gaming. Good thing that they finally see the light.

Click to shrink...

Except Atlus.

 

[principal]

Sensible thinking.

I guess Denovo is helping them. Look at Sega and Yakuza 0. Even if they get 1 month piracy free, it's probably worth to port the game.

Zero piracy would be fantastic. Unfortunately even the consoles aren't free from it. It's just that pirating on the PC is piss easy.

 

[Pablo Mesa]

I guess Denovo is helping them

Click to shrink...

Denovo has been a necessary evil. no matter how much people express their disgust for it (some with actual reason). preventing Day 1 piracy even on a week-month gap really has helped some bolster their confidence in the PC market.

 

[R.T Straker]

Physical PC releases are far easier to pirate lol.

Click to shrink...

No... they're not? Phsyical PC releases don't even come with the full game nowdays or even with the disk in most of the cases.

 

[Alexandros]

How incredibly shortsighted of them.

 

[AfropunkNyc]

I am not going back to physical anything...

 

[Lagamorph]

It's like they just completely ignored that console piracy has been a thing pretty much since consoles started.

 

[OniluapL]

Sensible thinking.

I guess Denovo is helping them. Look at Sega and Yakuza 0. Even if they get 1 month piracy free, it's probably worth to port the game.

Zero piracy would be fantastic. Unfortunately even the consoles aren't free from it. It's just that pirating on the PC is piss easy.

Click to shrink...

Denovo has been a necessary evil. no matter how much people express their disgust for it (some with actual reason). preventing Day 1 piracy even on a week-month gap really has helped some bolster their confidence in the PC market.

Click to shrink...

Maybe there is some correlation, but Japanese publishers were already bringing stuff over way before Denuvo was a thing. This very thread is about DMC4, which doesn't have Denuvo. Besides, smaller publishers (NISA, Idea Factory, Spike Chunsoft, Koei Tecmo) still don't put Denuvo on their releases. It was already an ongoing process.

 

[Extreme Tactician]

Onimusha was a slideshow.

Click to shrink...

I had the displeasure of playing the first and third games on PC.

They sucked. The first one had graphical problems such as Samanosuke constantly losing his head. The third had fake options. I constantly tried to change some graphical options, but they wouldn't change. And the controller mapping sucked too.

 

[nampad]

Crazy how you can be a high level executive without even understanding how piracy works.
People would have just downloded cracked isos, something way more convenient for them than getting out and buy the game.

 

[Shantom]

Sensible thinking.

I guess Denovo is helping them. Look at Sega and Yakuza 0. Even if they get 1 month piracy free, it's probably worth to port the game.

Zero piracy would be fantastic. Unfortunately even the consoles aren't free from it. It's just that pirating on the PC is piss easy.

Click to shrink...

You think it was sensible thinking to ignore the digital market just as it was taking off?
As for Denuvo, Capcom and Sega both had hugely successful PC games before it ever existed.

 

[Servbot24]

They can't lose money if they don't make any money at all!

 

[Vela]

Chris Svensson did so much great work for Capcom, we as enthusiasts and gaming culture in general have been incredibly fortunate and privileged for the stuff he achieved despite the bureaucracy of Capcom

Capcoms PC business wouldn't be where it is at today without Svenssons hard work

 

[Starlatine]

That's why capcom never released PS1/PS2 games, right?

 

[Acetown]

No... they're not? Phsyical PC releases don't even come with the full game nowdays or even with the disk in most of the cases.

Click to shrink...

Was that the case in 08? Seems like a moot point anyway if you don't want to digitally distribute your game, in that case you're gonna have to put it on the disc.

 

[JustAnotherOne]

So..where is Asura's Wrath PC Capcom?

 

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

That's why capcom never released PS1/PS2 games, right?

Click to shrink...

Capcom ported a lot of their PS1 games , most notable are RE1/RE2/RE3 and Dino Crisis 1 and 2 , and they were OK ports for their time , even Eidos version for RE2 and RE3 works on modern system without Critical problems

It is the PS2 era where they heavily decreased their PC ports

 

[fspm]

Most of the ports were ported by QLOC IIRC

Click to shrink...

No the pc versions were done internally that's why they weren't shit.

 

[SweetVermouth]

Oh so this is the reason their PC games have shit support like the recent Mega Man X Collection. And the funniest thing ever is that DMC4 SE on PC is broken for a lot of users just like the X Collection because both use DirectX10 only which is kinda broken on Windows 10. They never fixed DMC4 and they'll never fix the X Collection too.

If they can't even support paying customers they shouldn't bother porting to PC anyway

 

[Ryuichi Naruhodo]

No the pc versions were done internally that's why they weren't shit.

Click to shrink...

Capcom games ported by QlOC

Dead Rising HD Remaster Playstation 4 , Xbox One , PC
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen PC
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition PC
Street Fighter X Tekken PC
Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City PC
DmC: Devil may Cry PC
Resident Evil 6 PC
Remember Me PC
Resident Evil 4: Ultimate HD Edition PC

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/QLOC

 

[Graciaus]

Japanese devs releasing on pc makes it easy to give up consoles. Now if only Atlus would see the light. But I don't see that happening.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Sensible thinking.

I guess Denovo is helping them.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure how DenUvo is coming into play in a talk about titles released almost 10 years ago.
And no, it's probably hardly affecting the outcome, anyway.

 

[VallenValiant]

Sensible thinking.

I guess Denovo is helping them. Look at Sega and Yakuza 0. Even if they get 1 month piracy free, it's probably worth to port the game.

Zero piracy would be fantastic. Unfortunately even the consoles aren't free from it. It's just that pirating on the PC is piss easy.

Click to shrink...

What is the "worth"? No, seriously, what is the magical profits you say they are earning with using Denovo? You wouldn't have said it unless you actually have a number in mind, so say it.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

No... they're not? Phsyical PC releases don't even come with the full game nowdays or even with the disk in most of the cases.

Click to shrink...

I think he worded it poorly by ssaying "physical is easier to pirate than digital", but almost nailed a main issue, which is another one: physical-only releases were easier to pirate than they were to purchase. Which is obviously a problem.
With digital growing year after year since 2004 and with stores having less and less shelf space for PC games, you needed to live in a very well served area to get your physical copy of a specific title, while I can wake up at any point in the middle of the night and purchase a digital game at whim.

Also, your rebuttal (bolded part) clearly doesn't apply for physical copies that weren't tied to online services, anyway. So it's misguided.

 

[Curufinwe]

I think DMC4 was the last physical PC game I bought.

 

[Deleted member 3888]

yeah it was early last gen, SE thought the same too when they were asked about FF13, there was even DRM with FF7 as far I remember correctly (that they later removed), I'm thinking its why a lot of japanese publishers don't/didn't want their games on pc.

 

[BasilZero]

Glad things have changed now - hopefully the rest who wont budge will soon follow (Atlus, Vanillaware).