Capcom: RE5 Versus isn't just a key

Capcom has denied that the Versus downloadable content for Resident Evil 5 is no more than a key that unlocks the mode already on the game disc, despite being only 1.86 MB in size.

"Keys are 100 [kilobytes] or less," Christian Svensson, Capcom's vice president of corporate development, said on the company's message boards (spotted by Variety).

"It is not a key. We have said in the past, it uses assets from the disc (like levels, models, audio, etc.) but the code is new and does not exist on the disc. "

The small size of the download had led many players to suspect they were being charged 400 Microsoft Points, GBP 3.99 or USD 4.99 to unlock content they'd effectively already bought on the game disc. This stance was backed up by IGN last week, which claimed that "you are not, in fact, downloading the content from Xbox Live Marketplace or PlayStation Network. Instead, you are downloading a key that unlocks content already on the RE5 retail disc. The same disc you paid USD 60 for a month ago." 

As our review points out, Versus re-uses the visuals, audio, maps and basic mechanics of the existing Mercenaries mode. Capcom's contention is that the code that sets the game rules for Versus and makes it work is all contained in those 1.86 MB.

This is certainly feasible - any programmer will tell you that you can fit an awful lot of lines of code in 1.86 MB, and that it's graphics and audio that take up all the space. But it seems that the problem is one of perception, of players feeling that they're getting something for their money when paying for DLC.