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Resident Evil 7 ships 3 million copies, has recouped development costs

Resident Evil 7 Why Should We

Update February 15, 2017: Resident Evil 7 is now a commercially successful product, having recouped its development costs since its release in January. That means it’s Money Town for Capcom from here on out. 

The survival horror game has now shipped 3 million units, and Capcom expect that figure to bump up to 4 million during its first fiscal year. 

If you miss the itchy, tasty Resi days, check out our list of the best zombie games

“Compared to Resident Evil 6 this may seem like a lower initial pace, however this can be attributed to the recent wider adoption of digital downloads and the transition from a sharp initial spike in sales for games to a continuous long tail,” Capcom explain during a financial Q&A.

“Further, we believe that achieving our fiscal-year target of 4 million units for this title is wholly possible, as we expect sales to continue for a longer period, buoyed on highly positive post-launch reviews from both the media and consumers.”

Capcom say that the majority of Resident Evil 7’s financial success comes from direct game sales, with DLC acting in a “complimentary role”. Hopefully this news sees Capcom’s stock start shooting back up again.

Update January 30, 2017:Capcom’s stock is falling despite strong sales of Resident Evil 7.

Shares in Capcom are down 6.5% in four days in the wake of Resident Evil 7’s sales figures – even though it shipped 2.5 million units and became the best-selling game in the UK this month.

Resident Evil 7 is the UK’s best-selling game so far this year according to GfK Chart-Track, a statistics group who monitor physical software sales in the UK. They say Capcom’s latest “is the third-best week one debut for the series”, with the record currently held by 2009’s Resident Evil 5.

And yet, despite this success, shares in publisher-developers Capcom have tumbled since the initial announcement of 2.5 million shipments three days ago (see original story, below), as you can see in this tweet by a business reporter:

Resident Evil is Capcom’s most successful brand, say GfK. In the UK, “it sits just outside the top 30 all-time brands since [its] arrival in 1996, around the same revenue as Sony’s ‘Crash Bandicoot’ (also launched in 1996) and Ubisoft’s ‘Just Dance’ (2009 onwards).”

Clearly, though 2.5 million shipments in three days (RE7 launched on January 24) is strong by most standards, it isn’t strongenoughfor Capcom’s biggest franchise. As industry analyst Daniel Ahmad says in the above twitter thread, it doesn’t compare well to Resident Evils 5 and 6;Capcom said they shipped 4.5 million units of RE6 just after its launch in 2012. In their last earnings call, Capcom projected RE7 would sell 4 million by the end of the financial year (that is, by March 31).

Perhaps the poor reception of RE6 has dampened enthusiasm for the sequel. There’s a chance that sales will pick up in the light of positive reviews and a lengthy schedule of DLC support by Capcom.

Original story January 27, 2017:Resident Evil 7 has shipped a massive 2.5 million units. Capcom didn’t reveal how many of those units shipped to retail have turned into sales, but the full amount would put the series as a whole at over 75 million sales.

Resident Evil 5 is currently Capcom’s best selling entry, at 7.1 million sales, but Resident Evil 7 could well exceed that if the pace keeps up.

Meanwhile, downloads of the game’s demo have surpassed 7 million, which is a new record for the series, proving the first-person revival sparked the game buying public’s curiosity.

Capcom expect Resident Evil 7 to top 4 million sales by the end of the financial year (by the end of March).

Our Matt reviewed it and he considered it deserving of a 9/10. Read our Resident Evil 7 review at that link.

If you’re wondering how performance is, check out our Resident Evil 7 port review.