Summary
- Resident Evil 4 has sold over 9 million copies, including over a million in the last quarter.
- Resident Evil 4’s eighth quarter since release is by far the best eighth quarter of recent series releases.
- Koshi Nakanishi is directing an upcoming Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil 4 (2023) was a triumph for Capcom – successfully reinvigorating a legendary game from its back catalogue for new audiences. The game was certainly a critical success, holding an average score of 92 on the review aggregation site Open Critic. It’s also proved a commercial hit too, raking in over 9 million total sales according to a post from Capcom.
“To you, the 9 million-plus agents. Happy New Year and thank you for your support. RE4 Team, 19/12/2024,” the post reads. The author of Itchy, Tasty: An Unofficial History of Resident Evil, Alex Aniel, has compared these newly-released numbers with sales data for other recently-released entries in the series, concluding that Resident Evil 4 is “by far” the fastest-selling game in the series’ history (nice spot, Eurogamer).
Resident Evil 4 Is A Huge Hit
According to Aniel, the new data confirms Resident Evil 4 sold over 1 million copies in the last quarter. This is the eighth quarter since the release of Resident Evil 4, with the numbers suggesting this eighth quarter performance is superior to the respective quarters of other Resident Evil games. Resident Evil 4’s 1 million sales this quarter outperform those of Resident Evil Village (500k), Resident Evil 7 (400k), Resident Evil 3 Remake (300k), Resident Evil 2 Remake (300k) and Resident Evil 6 (100k).
It’s certainly a good time to be a Resident Evil fan, with a lot of new and renewed interest in the series following a string of strong releases, both in the mainline series and the remake series. Excepting 2018 and 2024, Capcom has released a new Resident Evil game every year since 2017. This includes two new entries and three remakes.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard director Koshi Nakanishi previously confirmed he will direct an upcoming Resident Evil game. In mid-2024, he said “We’re making a new Resident Evil. It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7. But I found it, and to be honest, it feels substantial. I can’t share any details, but I hope you’re excited for the day I can.”
Capcom has a high-profile release next month in Monster Hunter Wilds. While there was speculation that a Resident Evil 9 announcement could be imminent to bulk up the company’s end-of-year offerings, there was no mention of the series during the recent Game Awards ceremony. As it stands, we know little of Nakanishi’s upcoming Resident Evil game.
A ground-up remake of the Capcom classic, Resident Evil 4 sees Leon Kennedy attempt to rescue the President’s daughter from a dangerous cult. It offers different control schemes, an expanded story, and modernized graphics.