Resident Evil 3 is off to a strong start, though not as strong as Resident Evil 2.
Today, Capcom announced that its latest Resident Evil REmake sold over two million copies in its first five days. Those are great numbers for Jill and Carlos’ action-oriented outing. But, Capcom’s latest has sold one million fewer copies than Resident Evil 2 had by the same milestone.
Resident Evil 3 sales good, but down
Resident Evil 3‘s momentum has likely been hurt by a few factors.
For one, the remake has polarized critics. IGN awarded the game a 9, GameSpot damned it with the faint praise of a 6, and our own Callum Williams gave it a 3.5 out of 5. I enjoyed the game tremendously and would be closest to IGN’s score, but there’s no denying that Resident Evil 3 wasn’t met with the universal acclaim Resident Evil 2 received last year.
Secondly, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis had a complicated effect on video game sales. The pandemic has increased video game sales as a whole, with consumers turning to video games for entertainment while they’re stuck inside.
It has almost certainly depressed physical sales. In today’s press release, Capcom stated that roughly half of Resident Evil 3’s revenue has come from digital sales. The game would likely have boasted a better physical haul if players could legally go to a GameStop.
Those caveats aside, Resident Evil 3 has done undeniably well for Capcom. So well, it seems, that the publisher is attempting to do the impossible. Though at this point it’s only been reported by VGC — who recently broke the news that a cavalcade of Mario remasters are rumoured to be in the works at Nintendo — it’s heavily rumoured that Capcom has plans to remaster Resident Evil 4 for a 2021 release.
It will be difficult to improve on a game that many consider perfect. But, on the other hand, Resident Evil 4 provides a much stronger foundation than Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
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