Resident Evil Requiem is still doing bonkers business while elongating Capcom’s generational win streak, but the new big-screen reboot didn’t make as big of an impact on game sales as you might expect. Still, according to estimates from Alinea Analytics, the ninth mainline game in the horror series has made over $500m (around £377) and counting.
Alinea Analytics’ Rhys Elliott today reported that Resident Evil Requiem has crossed the $500m mark, according to estimates from the industry analyst, which means it’s outpacing every other Resident Evil game to date and is close to catching up to Leon Kennedy’s last blockbuster. Resident Evil 4‘s remake has supposedly made more than $600m after three years, for comparison.
Some other interesting stats: Resident Evil Requiem’s most popular platform is reportedly PS5. Not too surprising considering the series’ tight corridors and even tighter camera angles began giving everyone the spooks on the very first PlayStation console. Requiem’s sold 4m copies on PS5, 30% of which come from physical copies, despite Sony’s disc-less future.
But what about the new Resident Evil film? Did it give Requiem a push? While Zach Cregger’s new reboot set a series-best opening weekend, pulling in over $108m worldwide, it didn’t move the needle too much as far as game sales go. Or, at least, it didn’t move the needle as much as Capcom’s very generous (and fairly frequent) discounts.
Funnily enough, Capcom began selling multiple Resident Evil games at a discounted price eight days before the film debuted on cinema screens. By the time the film’s opening weekend rolled around, Requiem began making 4% less money per day on PS5. “From about $284k to $271k,” according to the report, since the slightly increased demand didn’t cancel out the game’s lower-than-usual price.
Cregger’s Resident Evil did give all games in the series a bump in daily players, however – and the older, non-Requiem ones also sold more during its opening. Resident Evil 2‘s remake was reportedly the biggest benefactor, as it enjoyed 48% more players than normal across all platforms once the film was in cinemas. The game’s Raccoon City setting and the fact that it’s generally a pretty great game helped, too. Resident Evil 3’s remake, the one that doesn’t slap quite so hard, saw a 25% jump in players.
