Filmmaker accuses Capcom of plagiarising monster designs in Resident Evil Village

A Dutch filmmaker has accused Capcom of plagiarising his monster designs for Resident Evil Village.

Richard Raaphorst, director of the 2013 horror film Frankenstein’s Army, has published a LinkedIn post with pictures of the film and game for comparison.

“In 2013 I directed my film Frankenstein’s Army,” he writes. “It’s a crazy monster movie filled with my own creature designs, one of which has been used – completely without authorisation or credit in the newest Resident Evil game.”

Some spoilers for Resident Evil Village follow.

The Resident Evil Village monster in particular is a mini-boss character that comes about two thirds into the game.

Within Heisenberg’s factory – itself a scientific Resident Evil twist on the Frankenstein story – Ethan is attacked by Sturm, part-man part-machine with a propeller for a head.

Resident Evil Village / Frankenstein’s Army. (LinkedIn)

Raaphorst’s film features a similar character with a propeller for a head. Both monsters are also defeated by fire.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Raaphorst claims the monster is a “one-to-one” copy.

“Even the environments, the whole colour palette. It looks like an animatic for my movie,” he said.

“At first I felt pissed,” he continues. “Then I felt proud. Now, I see all the reactions and I feel pissed again, and insulted. It’s so difficult to come up with a great design. It’s really hard to actually think about something that communicates as a cool design. It’s not just that ideas are floating around that you can grab. It’s actually hard labour. Then they just grab it and put it somewhere in the game.”

Resident Evil Village / Frankenstein’s Army. (LinkedIn)

Raaphorst states in the interview he’s exploring his options to be credited in the game, stating he would’ve been “honoured and flattered and proud” had Capcom asked permission.

A Twitter thread by CloneKorp adds further fuel to the fire, including other monster designs from that section of the game.

Making a mini thread of how weirdly similar some of the monster designs are in @RE_Games Resident evil: Village & @RichRaaphorst's Frankenstein's Army (2013)

⚠️!Creature Design Spoilers Ahead!⚠️

RE:VIII On the Left, Frankenstein's Army on the Right. pic.twitter.com/RH06esjBCa

— | CloneKorp | UE5 Performer | Dev | VA (@CloneKorp) May 9, 2021

The news comes off the back of a record weekend for Resident Evil Village, with a peak concurrent player count of 101,726 on PC.

That beats the series’ previous record of 74,024 concurrent PC players of Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Read our review of Resident Evil Village here.

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