Hello and welcome back to another shiny edition of The Game Business Micro.
Not the busiest week for stories, although we’ve had a few financial results come out. And my favourite story is Capcom revising upwards its financial forecasts after delivering big numbers on Resident Evil Requiem (and that’s even without Pragmata’s recent succcessd).
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Anyway, back to the news!
Capcom keeps on delivering
In Brief: Capcom has revised upwards its 2025 financial year forecast due to stronger-than-expected sales of Resident Evil Requiem. The publisher now expects net sales of $1.22 billion, which is up 2.8% from the previous forecast, and a net income of $342 million, which is up 6.9%.
What You Need To Know:
Resident Evil Requiem has sold seven million copies worldwide, making it the fastest-selling game in the series to-date by a big margin.
In the US, it is already in the Top Five best-selling Resident Evil games of all time, behind Resident Evil 5, the remake of Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Village and the original Resident Evil 4 (Circana data).
Requiem reviewed very well, with an 89 Metacritic score, and a ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ rating on Steam.
Although not part of the same financial year, Capcom’s new IP Pragmata has sold one million copies in two days, and early data suggests the game had a strong second week on the market, too.
My Take:
Tomb Raider and Resident Evil are 30 this year. Both franchises made their name on the original PlayStation, they both have new games out this year, and both are also getting some fresh Hollywood attention – Tomb Raider has a high-profile Amazon TV show coming from Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, while Resident Evil is getting a new movie from the director of Weapons, Zach Cregger.
But there’s a key difference between the two franchises. 30 years of Tomb Raider represents a comeback for Lara Croft. And it’s not her first comeback, either. Whereas Resident Evil has never gone away. It’s been consistently growing and sustaining its audience across all three of those decades. And over the past ten years, it’s become the standout leader in its genre. There are very few franchises as old as Resident Evil that has achieved such a feat.
It speaks to Capcom’s strength in maintaining and innovating within the series. But it also speaks to the company’s hyper focus on what it does well. Capcom knows its audiences. And across Street Fighter, Resident Evil and Monster Hunter, it has maintained reliable, strong franchises, supported by a strong tech base, which appeal across generations. These games continue to grow by not losing sight of its core fans, while being open to new ones.
