Resident Evil 7 Has Revived the Franchise But Capcom May Disagree

Sales ultimately matter more to publishers than critical acclaim, something that Resident Evil 7's legacy may find out.

[PhoenixUp]

Speaking of sales I still find it strange how the most successful title from a company as prolific as Capcom has only sold 7.1 million. You'd think with all those iconic franchises under their belt hat they'd have no problem surpassing that total.

[naruga]

this "This leaves Capcom at a crossroads. The new direction for the franchise has been undoubtedly well received, but there is a sneaking suspicion that it has in fact alienated a portion of the series’ typically dedicated fanbase. By fundamentally changing the Resident Evil formula, Capcom have turned their back on the old-school fans and have instead pursued a new age form of horror. While it’s a decision few at Capcom will probably regret, it has now left them with extremely difficult choices to make."

and this " but if the franchise is to care for the fans who’ve made it what it is today, it has to revert back to its 3rd person roots for Resident Evil 8, or it will suffer the commercial consequences."

all the praise and all the hype (from young clueless reviewers) just went in vain as the game is worthless copy of modern horror trends and continues to flop in sales ... alienating the f..k out the old fans (like me) who may disliked abit RE4-5-6...though still accepted them as the were Resis in heart....the

[Sharky231]

I think the game is a welcome change from the format. The atmosphere in this game is awesome! They got the pacing right, and the game is actually scary again! That's what's been missing from the horror series... horror! The story could be a little better but it's on the right track.

[I-wear-clothes]

If you liked resi 1-3 more than 4-6 then you might actually enjoy the game (even though it may not be as good As REmake) this game is more resident evil than both 5 and 6.

[ZombieGamerMan]

what the flying fuck are you on about? have you played 7? It's as old school of an RE game as you can get without flat out remaking the original with the only difference being 7 is in first person. The series doesn't have to revert back to 3rd person. Also the fact you would call 6 a RE game at heart over 7 just shows you either don't get the series or haven't played 7.

[Adrian_v01]

RE7 is just too scary for naruga, he wants to feel de-stressed. The change to a more horror style for RE is stressing him out too much.

[G20WLY]

Lol Are you really still whining about this game? You know they're not about to recall all copies and redevelop it to your liking, don't you?

Others like this game. Especially in VR. Sorry you can't accept that.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I think it's actually more than that I'm pretty positive Resident Evil 5 sold something like 8 million units.

I don't believe they're going to be able to capture that simply because that was when Resident Evil was in its action face and people were wanting something similar to Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.

I'm not sure a lot of that audience really exist anymore for them to make those type of sales evident by Resident Evil 6 selling a little less.

It's also too costly for them to produce such a game simply because of all the risk.

For all we know they were probably more profitable with something like this then a huge Blockbuster action type game where they would have needed to sell a lot more to break even.

A company being very iconic doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be moving ridiculous units I mean considered Street Fighter 5 failures or even Dead Rising the company as of late with a lot of their properties of just decreased in quality and I believe the doodling sales are very much showing that in my personal opinion Resident Evil is the only high quality series we've been seeing from Capcom as of late.

Even their other popular titles like Devil May Cry and onimusha never really sold as much as people might think when you look at the sales.

Huge notable developers leaving like Shinji mikami very much so that the company has been having lots of struggles over the years internally by all the recent departures.

On top of Capcom Outsourcing a lot of their games like when they started to Outsource Devil May Cry and Dead Rising away from their original developers you could see the quality lesson as well as the sales.

[Sharky231]

I think it sold so many because it came out on the PS3. Then it came out on the PS4.

[Youngindy21]

Street Fighter IV sold over 8 million copies across PS3, Xbox 360, and 3DS.

[Derceto]

May have sold better if it wasn't just "Generic Hillbilly Horror Cabin Freak Show" with the name Resident Evil on it.

They appealed to absolutely nobody with this steaming turd.

[Hroach616]

Ahahahahahahah 😂 Okay bud. Go troll somewhere else

[SoulMikeY]

RE2 was by far the best in the series to me, and this one tied it. I went into it drinking my haterade, and came out eating my words.RE7 was so damn good, I was a little pissed I didn't buy it day 1. It would be nice for them to add a third person option, but after beating this one, not necessary. Not just for the RE franchise, but 5 and 6 were two of the worst games ever made. Absolutely horrible and pointless.

And obviously you didn't play it, otherwise you'd know it's not "Generic Hillbilly Horror Cabin Freak Show".... dumbass.

[jbrock11]

I played it all the way through and I agree with him. Usually when I play a great game the experience will stay with me for a while. This is a very forgettable game and I could care less about playing Resident Evil 8 if it's another game of this ilk.

[WelcomeToTheFamily]

I bet your parents thought about abortion, when they found out they was having you.

[bluefox755]

Except you're wrong, the game was very well received among critics and consumers. Nice try though.

[windblowsagain]

Glad they went first person.

Feels much better.

Can't move when your shooting in some previous games was laughable.

Res 4 is awful control wise on PC no matter the settings for m/k and controller.

If it goes back to 3rd person i'll pass on next game unless it has a control scheme like Uncharted,etc. Best TPS Controls ever made.

[Fearmonkey]

RE7 is the best RE i have played in Years, love this game. Hope they continue this game style. Whiny babies who cant stand a bit of change can go cry in their old retro boring gameplay.

[wheatley]

I'm sure Capcom knew going in that they were appealing to the niche market that loved the original trilogy. "Old school fans" in this writer's head is the RE4/5/6 action fans, who might possibly be satisfied with the Free DLC planned called "Not A Hero" (I think). Capcom are turning their back on the disappointment of trying to please everyone. They made a fantastic entry in the series, albeit a less than linked entry to the overall story - but really, what story is there left to tell that didn't end up in a volcano? I'm liking the drip feed story that they did with RE7 but I'm sure some fans wanted a more connected entry. 7 or however many entries into the series, Capcom knew they needed to change it up and at least they did. I commend them for that and a great game in the series. I look forward to what else they release in DLC :)

[cogniveritas]

I agree that the change in story was needed. The isolation and helplessness of a new unwary character brought back the horror in a way that let us progress the story a tiny bit but without playing as any of the ever ready battle hardened veterans of the zombie apocalypse we're used to by now.

The first person camera and not having a full view of your body and what's beside you recaptured a bit of the limited field of view that made the original Resident Evils scary with their awkward camera angles. And I was a bit disappointed with no shambling zombies and the way some of the story played out, but all in all, it's a solid entry.

[wsoutlaw87]

I think the reason this didnt sell as well is because 5/6 were so disappointing no one was going to buy a re game.

[S-Word]

Actually, it killed the franchise and all because they wanted to cash in on the VR fad.

[BlakHavoc]

Best Resi I've played since 4 and 3rd on my list behind 2 & 4.

[kenwonobi]

I think they should stop trying to recapture the success of part 4. This is where they went completely wrong. Rather they should go back to what made them famous in the first place. A 3rd person game similar to Residents Evil one and two. Solve puzzles, shoot zombies, be scary, have atmosphere, big boss battles, have a story. Stop worrying how action packed it is. Stop worrying about recapturing part 4s success. Part 4 is not what made them famous. Parts one and two are what made the series famous. The success of those made part 4 huge. What if you had made a game with a similar atmosphere as Until Dawn? Solve puzzles and make it scary. Then add in Zombies, zombie dogs, weapons, monsters, made it more like a haunted Mansion or building? Bio weapons facility? Do these things in 3rd person. Try to rival the graphics in Uncharted but creepy. Closed in spaces, claustrophobic like you did part 7.

[jbrock11]

The game itself isn't terrible ( it isn't great either ) but they made a huge mistake naming it Resident Evil. This game should have been named something new considering it only has very slight nods to the other games. Enough to the point where it seems as if it wasn't even written as a Resident Evil game and they only added a few things in there to try and tie it into the other games just so they could try to cash in on the Resident Evil name. To us fans of the originals, I think we just have to come to terms with the fact that this franchise will never be what it once was.

[ZwVw]

Exactly. RE7 is a good horror game but it's not a genuine RE title. It's essentially an amalgamation of Capcom's favorite first-person horror games. The derived elements from it's predecessors such as P.T./Silent Hills, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Outlast, Amnesia, Alien Isolation, etc. are clearly evident throughout.
Yet, people will claim that RE7 (which is practically a spin-off) is true to from, just because the game has scary moments and takes place primarily in a desolate complex.
RE7 is about as much of an RE game (in the numerical sense) as Escape Dead Island is to being Dead Island 3.

[jbrock11]

I just wish this game was some spinoff side game and Resident Evil Revelations 1-2 had the bigger budgets and marketing pushes. Those were infinitely better games in my opinion and at least felt like Resident Evil.

[WelcomeToTheFamily]

I bet u haven't even played this one..... smh.

[Shinox]

"RE7" should have been a Clock Tower / Haunting Ground sequel and both of those games owned by CAPCOM , it literally has every single element from the oldschool clock tower game since Marguerite and Jack felt like the new versions of Mary Barrows and Scissorman , except that it adds weapons that makes you defend yourself

[LgbtWarrior]

I love the new game but I would think it didn't cost as much to make as part six. it's more of a scary indie game then a huge blockbuster aaa game like re6. I doubt the budget was that high. I would be shocked if it was. I would like to see the production costs of re6 to re7. If it cost significantly less I'm pretty sure it would still break even on the current numbers.

[WelcomeToTheFamily]

Hmmm, they need 4m by the end of march for it too be a success right? well they have shipped 3m already. All they need is another million in a month in a half. They will defiantly make it to there goal.

This game gets more popular as time goes on, thanks too youtuber's ect.

Capcom is very happy with RE7. It's no doubt they are discussing RE8 ideas right now, plus with how much love RE7 gets the more they are happy and motivated too continue this formula.

[WeAreLegion]

Devil May Cry 5 from Itsuno and his team will be huge for them. This sold fine. Especially considering how much 6 damaged the franchise.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Yeah something tells me this site don't really know much. While I don't know the numbers for 7 it has at least shipped 3 million units so I reckon it might have sold around 2 million within a few weeks and hopefully this game is one with long legs with sales picking up as time goes by

[windblowsagain]

The only other thing I would say is RES7 needed more diverse enemies. Hopefully in the next game. Still an excellent ride.

[ShaunCameron]

Agreed.

[VersusDMC]

RE7 was a little lacking in content. I took me 7 hours to beat the game the first time. People keep saying that it's fine because it's as long as the ps1 RE's. And not just length. Enemy variety as well. That's not acceptable when there is paid dlc coming out a week later. It should have been in the game. Game engine is just ok, so I don't know where the budget went to. It must have been VR development. But why am I paying for a feature I won't use? RE7 was good but overpriced in today's market. Even RE6 was action packed with content. Maybe that's why I see people already selling their copies online in droves.

Just rent RE7 people.