There is no doubt that Capcom is one of the biggest and most respectable video game companies in the entire industry. This is because they are responsible for countless iconic franchises, such as Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, Mega Man and many more. But of course, when you produce so many popular titles, it’s inevitable that they all end up in the hands of modders, who use their creativity and talent to create all sorts of modifications, whether it’s tools to facilitate progress, memes or even explicit content, Capcom’s biggest franchises are full of Mods on specialized sites. And it seems that some of the company’s figures are not happy about this.
Capcom vs. the Mods: Do they violate public order and morals?
These statements come from a recent conference broadcast by Capcom, titled “Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy Measures in PC Game Recommendations for In-House Production,” which has a focus on modifications for PC video games, including piracy. Programmer Taro Yahagi said, “Mods are popular among users because they allow them to add or change various functions to an existing game, but for the purposes of combating cheating and piracy, all mods are defined as cheats.” He then clarified “Most mods can have a positive impact, but many others are seen as detrimental to the company, in terms of reputational damage and workload.”
Basically, what Yahagi is saying is that while they are aware that many mods are positive and harmless, Capcom puts them all in the same bag, and views them as detrimental for two reasons. First, because they share the same space as piracy and tools that allow the player to cheat. And second, because there are people who create mods that, according to them, “are offensive to public order, morals” and that “Tarnish the image of the product and affect the brand”. Although it never clarifies what they mean by this, it can be assumed that it’s about the more explicit mods, which add sex*al content or extreme violence to a game that normally wouldn’t have it.
Of course, when talking about workload, it’s also possible that Yahagi is referring to mods that alter the developers’ programming by affecting the game’s performance and graphics. However, this is a somewhat drastic position to take, as mods are one of the biggest reasons PC users buy video games on that platform. And Capcom titles are some of the most popular on sites like NexusMods, where you can find everything from mods that give you infinite ammo in Resident Evil, to mods that replace enemies with Thomas the Locomotive or Shrek.
Mods in Capcom video games are extremely popular among the PC gaming community, so these comments took fans by surprise, and it would be very strange if the company starts regulating more mods on that platform. What do you think about these controversial statements? Do you think Capcom is right or wrong?
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