Capcom had a breakout year in 2018, with hit after hit from Monster Hunter: World to the various well-received ports on the Nintendo Switch. Not one to rest on its laurels, the Japanese company started off 2019 strong with one of the most anticipated remakes in recent memory, the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 2. While the game looked to be a hit from the start, its popularity amongst gamers and critics like blew past expectations, and emerged as the current Game of the Year contender as many other big-hitters languished.
Today, Capcom announced yet another milestone its January flagship has achieved, selling over 4 million units worldwide, that has undoubtedly furthered the gap between the horror title and its competitors. Citing “favorable growth in unit sales backed by multitude of positive reviews” as the summary of Resident Evil 2’s streak, Capcom revealed that the game has surpassed 4 million units across all released platforms, though the specific breakdown of each remains unknown. When combined with other entries in the series, the entire franchise has generated more than 90 million units since its first game’s release back in 1996.
Capcom goes on to describe the efforts invested into this recent remake, built completely from the ground-up using its current-generation, proprietary RE ENGINE, in order to produce “detailed, photo-realistic graphics” and “real-time sound image rendering.” The original Resident Evil 2 grossed 4.96 million units in lifetime sales, making it the fourth-best selling entry of the franchise; its remake is now catching up, and with the new Ghost Survivors free DLC, there’s no telling how far this polished gem will end up at the end of it all.
Capcom recently had the honor of topping Metacritic’s 2018 Best Publisher rankings and had record year at the same time. In the recent chaos of studio shutdowns and company restructures, it’s reassuring to see a game company continue to do what it does best: making quality video games.