This morning, Japanese publisher and developer CAPCOM announced that the Resident Evil 4 remake has sold over nine million units since its debut in late March 2023. It is no doubt a remarkable result, especially when considering that the game is essentially the same as the 2005 classic from a content standpoint.
The first three million units were sold just two days after launch. The fourth million mark was passed in early April 2023, while the fifth was reached in late July 2023. CAPCOM provided the next sales update around the game’s first anniversary, when we learned that the Resident Evil 4 remake had sold over seven million copies.
The game was well received overall by critics, too, though our own Nathan Birch didn’t quite love it (but still gave it an 8.5 out of 10):
Now, I have to say, while the tone of the last few paragraphs has been a bit negative, whether we’re talking about the original or the remake, Resident Evil 4 is still a very good game. I may be a bit disappointed by the scope and ambition of Capcom’s reimagining, but RE4 is still one of the most inventive and engaging action-horror games ever made, and this is a competent, technically-impressive new version of the game. The village battle may be largely the same, but it still gets your blood pumping. Same goes for the cabin defense sequence, your showdown with the village chief, or your first encounter with a Regenerator. The Resident Evil 4 remake is still a fun, bombastic dose of mayhem, I just feel like it had the potential to be even better. It also suffers from the fact that Resident Evil Village was, in some ways, the bigger, crazier take on RE4 that this remake could have been.
2025 might be a big year for the franchise, at least when it comes to announcements. Resident Evil 9 is expected to be unveiled, potentially with a late 2025 launch window, and there are already rumors that the atmosphere will be inspired by Resident Evil 4 while also having two ‘unkillable stalkers’ possibly inspired by Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis. The playable characters are rumored to be two of the most iconic protagonists in the series: Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 1, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 5) and Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 6).
