Was Resident Evil 5 a success?

Q: What went wrong with Resident Evil 5?

One of Resi 5s weaknesses is a few too many mounted gun sections, which in the case of the desert motorbike chase may be because that area was a scrapped walking environment. It was thought to be too big and open for fun combat. Co-operative play is what makes, and in some ways breaks, Resident Evil 5.

Q: Was Resident Evil a success?

Resident Evil is Capcoms best-selling franchise, with 131 million copies sold worldwide as of October 2022, and is the best-selling horror game series.

While neither Resident Evil 5 or 6 are the best representative of the series’ survival horror, they are the two best-selling games in the series for a reason. Their action-oriented approach was simply more appealing to a wider audience and the cooperative gameplay allows it to be enjoy with friends. They are both a tougher sale in 2019, but at the right price both will give players some laughs (and a few facepalms in the case of RE6) as they make their way through. Even if you’re not a hardcore Resident Evil fan, these Switch ports allow players to experience an important, if inconsistent, part of the series’ history.

Índice Show

What is the most successful Resident Evil?
What went wrong with Resident Evil 5?
Was Resident Evil a success?
Did Resident Evil 6 fail?

Capcom has revealed update sales figures for a number of its franchises, as well as confirmed that Resident Evil 5 has overtaken Street Fighter II to become its most successful game.

It's been confirmed that the 2009 entry in the Resident Evil franchise has managed to sell 6.5 million units, surpassing the 6.3 million units sold by 1992's Street Fighter II. 2012's divisive Resident Evil 6 completes the top three, having sold 5.2 million copies.

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The company also revealed a more generalised picture on the state of its franchises. Unsurprisingly, Resident Evil is the runaway champion having sold 60 million units across the franchise and securing its place as the developer's flagship brand.

It's followed by Monster Hunter, which has managed to sell 27 million copies. Despite the lower figure, it's this franchise that's to thank for the company's improved financial results. Described as an "immediate success", it's already sold three million copies in Japan since releasing on September 14; no western release has been announced.Overall for the six month period ending September 30, 2013, the company experienced sales up 16.9 percent to 53 billion yen, with net income up 20 percent to 4.95 billion yen.

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Other franchises worth mentioning include Devil May Cry, which has lifetime series sales of 13 million, and Lost Planet, which has a lower 5.4 million. Capcom did explain, however, that the recent Lost Planet 3 failed to perform to expectations, though exact figures weren't supplied. Resident Evil Revelations and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies pretty much hit their targets, however, while Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen "enjoyed steady sales".

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on .

Because it came just after one of the most successful entries in the series (RE4) and because, even if we take RE4 out of the equation, it's an amazing game. It's an extremely solid third person shooter with simple but effective mechanics, it has a good campaign with good pacing and interesting set-pieces, lots of different weapons, lots of replayability and the best Mercenaries mode to date. It also features Chris and Wesker, two of the most popular characters in the franchise, and that also had a role probably.

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Hades192 4 years ago#4

Coming off of RE 4, I had very high expectations that Capcom was going to elaborate upon 4's gameplay by being more creepy as well as finish up Chris and Weskers storyline.

I recall in an early interview one of the reasons they chose Africa as a setting was because they wanted to do a horror game in a bright setting.
-it spoke about using the time it takes your eyes to focus from one light extreme to another as a means to create tension.

Then those ideas were dropped in favor of Multiplayer and essentially more of the same that 4 gave us.

Early 4 has the best atmosphere.
5 plays the best.
6 just isn't fun but mercenaries is my hangout spot if I ever decide to play it.

O no, o no don't go, o slow down Joe; The righteous path is straight as an arrow, Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow.
Too narrow for the likes of me!

Cobra1010 4 years ago#5

I still remember they said something like its so scary that it will make you shake.

And they hyped the game up pretty well. The big executioner guy looked awesome and the graphics was brilliant at the time. Co-op was also something new.

Load me into the matrix and dont pull the plug

SavenForever 4 years ago#6

Because RE4 was massively popular and came out on two consoles that everyone had access to.

Hades192 4 years ago#7

Cobra1010 posted...

I still remember they said something like its so scary that it will make you shake.

Fear you can't forget!

O no, o no don't go, o slow down Joe; The righteous path is straight as an arrow, Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow.
Too narrow for the likes of me!

TheDawnRider 4 years ago#8

There are many reasons. As others have stated, coming after RE4. Regardless of how you feel on that game, it was critically acclaimed and very popular at the time of release. They also hyped the hell out of the location: RE5 was gonna be set in Africa! Incredible potential, there. Sadly, pretty much wasted by RE5... Also, Chris Redfield being the main character and Wesker having a bigger role, being the main villain of the story. I remember there was also alot of hype surrounding that. The marketing for the game was also pretty damn good. The trailers actually made the game look very interesting at the time and even rose questions. Jill Valentine is dead? Who's the bird lady? What's Wesker's plan? How are they gonna use the Africa location? Expanded Mercenaries mode, etc.
So everything taken into account, many factors led up to the success of RE5.

Phil_Resch 4 years ago#9

TheDawnRider posted...

Who's the bird lady?

The only thing missing from the bird lady was "Jill Valentine" written on the cape

Google is your friend, use it.

Spacecowboy2071 4 years ago#10

Gaming community had grow larger and with hype from 4 the action oriented game was reaching a more general audiance. There was the COOP and Gud graphics. Marketing too. RE5 cut off the head of the franchise and pooped down its neck.

What is the most successful Resident Evil?

Most successful Resident Evil video games worldwide 2022, by units sold. As of September 2022, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was the best-selling entry in Capcom's Resident Evil series. The 2017 survival horror game sold over 11.3 million units worldwide.

What went wrong with Resident Evil 5?

One of Resi 5's weaknesses is a few too many mounted gun sections, which in the case of the desert motorbike chase may be because that area was a scrapped 'walking' environment. It was thought to be too big and open for fun combat. Co-operative play is what makes, and in some ways breaks, Resident Evil 5.

Was Resident Evil a success?

Resident Evil is Capcom's best-selling franchise, with 131 million copies sold worldwide as of October 2022, and is the best-selling horror game series.

Did Resident Evil 6 fail?

“The flagship title Resident Evil 6 (for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), despite recording brisk sales when it debuted, subsequently lost its momentum, resulting in the failure to achieve planned sales and fulfill its role as a driver of sales expansion,” admitted the publisher.