Discounts, not the movie, powered Resident Evil's game sales jump
It was not the monster on the big screen that sold the games. It was the price cut.
Fresh discounts before the new Resident Evil film arrived did most of the work behind the recent jump in game sales, with only a modest lift once the film landed. That is the read from Alinea analyst Rhys Elliott, who tracked copy sales around the release, as reported by GameSpot.
Capcom cut prices on several Resident Evil games on September 10 and kept those offers live after the film opened. Zach Cregger's Resident Evil was released in theatres on September 18. It tells an original story with a new lead.
The discount effect was immediate. On PlayStation 5, daily copies of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 rose by about 1.9 times before the film came out. Resident Evil Requiem rose by about 1.8 times on the same basis.
The prices were low. Resident Evil 2 was discounted to US$7.99 on PS5 in September. Resident Evil 4 was discounted to US$9.99. Resident Evil Requiem was discounted to US$48.99, part of a 30% cut to US$49 before its price returned to US$70. Most discounted catalogue copies sold for US$8 to US$13 each.
The price did the talking. Almost all of the recent copy movement was on PlayStation, according to Elliott. Even at those low prices, PS5 revenue from Resident Evil games rose more than 80% from the discounted sales base.
The film still added something. After stripping out the discount effect, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 picked up another 50% to 65% in PS5 copies. Resident Evil 2 sales nearly doubled on PS5 while rising 16% on Steam. Resident Evil 4 sales jumped 77% on PS5 against 0% on Steam. On Steam, the film-linked increase was a milder 11% to 14% for Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4.
Much of that film-linked activity came from people who already owned the games. Elliott said the rise in catalogue engagement was driven by existing owners reinstalling and replaying titles. The film reactivated an existing fan base rather than building a large new one from scratch.
For fans, this means the box office and the storefront told two different stories. The film has grossed over US$196 million at the global box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing live-action Resident Evil film so far. It sits behind 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which grossed US$312 million. The new film holds a Metacritic metascore of 79 from 51 reviews.
PlayStation remains the centre of the series. PlayStation is Resident Evil Requiem's No. 1 platform, accounting for 48.1% of 8.5 million players, according to Elliott's earlier tracking.
