Resident Evil 4 remake had so many bugs during the final month of development that the director was worried it'd get delayed

Resident Evil 4 Remake Leon looking to the side
(Image credit: Capcom)

The Resident Evil 4 remake's director has said that he was worried the game would be delayed due to its many bugs during development.

The documentary series by NHK World Japan called 100 Cameras recently released a brand-new episode titled Game Developerwhich focused on Resident Evil and Street Fighter 6 studio Capcom. 

The episode in question offered a close look at the final month leading up to the launch of the Resident Evil 4 remake in March 2023, with members of the development team working hard on the game (via GamesRadar).

The episode included behind-the-scenes footage of the development process, showcasing a "storm" of bugs that were causing a range of issues for the team. In some cases, the episode showed instances of the game freezing in the middle of action sequences, disappearing visuals, as well as main character Leon S. Kennedy falling through the world, among many others.

One developer mentioned that they'd found roughly 70 bugs in just one day of playtesting. Game director Yasuhiro Anpo also made an appearance and went on to discuss how he was concerned that the game would be delayed due to how many bugs there were.

"At this rate, we won't make the release," Anpo said. 

The QA leader also mentioned in the episode that the bug "fixes are so sloppy", adding, "If they're gonna do it, they should do it right." They went on to have a meeting with Anpo who told him he was "very concerned" due to the issues, stating that he's "never seen bugs like this."

Producers of the Resident Evil 4 remake, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, commented to another developer that many locations in the game were too dark, including the boss room for iconic villain Ramón Salazar. He instructed the team to make brightness adjustments because it was "Too dark to play". 

The development team was eventually able to smooth out the issues, however, and the Resident Evil 4 remake went on to become a critical success for Capcom, selling more than 6.48 million copies as of February 2024. 

TechRadar Gaming's features writer, Elie Gould, rated the game five stars and called it a "frighteningly fun remake" in their review. "The few changes Capcom makes are clearly smart and much needed. This is a brilliant revision of a beloved game."

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