Six Resident Evil games each sold over three million copies in the past year (and other Capcom epiphanies)

September 25, 2026 - 20:43

Resident Evil games are popular. That much is obvious. But the scale of that popularity across the entire franchise, not just new releases, reveals something more interesting about how Capcom manages its horror series.

Resident Evil Requiem, the newest entry, launched in late February and sold eight million copies by June 30. That is only four months. Impressive for any game, but especially notable for a series that has been running for decades.

What stands out more is how older titles keep performing. Between July 2025 and June 2026, the Resident Evil 4 remake from 2023 sold over five million copies. Resident Evil Village, released in 2021, moved 3.6 million units in that same window. Resident Evil 7 biohazard from 2017 hit three million. Even Resident Evil 6, originally from 2012, sold 2.3 million copies across its various ports.

Six Resident Evil games each sold more than three million copies in that single year: the remakes of RE2, RE3, and RE4, plus RE7, Village, and Requiem.

The strategy behind this is straightforward. Capcom cuts prices on older games aggressively and keeps the franchise in the public eye through marketing and new releases. The games also form a connected storyline that rewards players for going back to earlier entries.

Even smaller spin-offs like the Revelations titles continue to find hundreds of thousands of new players annually. The franchise's back catalog functions almost like a subscription service, with each new game bringing people into the fold and pushing them toward older titles.