Monster Hunter Rise Is Broken On Steam Deck Thanks To New DRM

thegamer.com:

Capcom has added new DRM software to Monster Hunter Rise, completely breaking it on Steam Deck. Now, despite being Steam Deck verified, the game won't even launch on the platform.

With this new update, Monster Hunter Rise joins other Capcom games in adding Enigma DRM, replacing Denuvo. The update also adds Obsidium, a piece of software that might be the culprit in this instance since this is the worst outcome we've seen from a Capcom DRM update yet.

Following complaints from fans online, we tested it out ourselves (thank you for your sacrifice, Joe), and can confirm that the latest update for Monster Hunter Rise will break the game on Steam Deck. Like others, we couldn't even get to the title screen, as the Steam Deck refused to boot up the game entirely.

The official Monster Hunter Rise Twitter account has acknowledged the problem, saying that it is aware of "an issue" preventing the game from running on Steam Deck. It says a hotfix is on the way, but since the statement falls short of referring to the new DRM, it's not clear if Enigma and Obsidium will be removed as part of the fix.

All in all, this appears to be part of a larger effort from Capcom, as it also recently added Enigma to Resident Evil: Revelations. It reversed the update due to backlash, but it did say it would re-release it once issues had been amended, so we might see Enigma re-implemented further down the line.

Much like with Resident Evil: Revelations, disgruntled fans are hitting the Monster Hunter Rise Steam page with negative reviews. The ranking has now gone from Very Positive to Mixed since the update went live.

It remains to be seen what the problem is here, and whether it's Enigma or Obsidium causing the game to not work at all on Steam Deck. But given that this is the second time in recent memory that a Capcom DRM update has tanked a game's performance, it's looking increasingly likely that this is the culprit.