Despite Apple’s promise of console-quality gaming capabilities for its iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, not many fans are willing to pay a lot of money for a mobile game that they could play on PC or console and have a much better experience.
CAPCOM has a special relationship with Apple. The iconic Japanese games developer and publisher has already launched several Resident Evil games on iOS, many of them considered AAA titles.
Unfortunately, most of them flopped as gamers would rather play them on platforms other than iOS or Android. The latest example is CAPCOM’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which sold less than 2,000 copies on iOS.
According to a new report from MobileGamer.biz, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was downloaded 83,000 times since its launch on iOS back on July 2. But that doesn’t mean that over 80,000 people decided to pay for the game because Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is free-to-try.
To unlock the full game, players must pay $19.99 / €19.99 / £15.99 and not many of those who downloaded the game have done it. MobileGamer.biz claims that just under 2,000 players decided to purchase the game on their iPhones, which would result in about $28,000 in revenue. If we are to factor in Apple’s 30 percent cut, then CAPCOM’s revenue is a lot smaller.
The same report mentions that the previous triple A titles that CAPCOM launched on iOS, Resident Evil 4 Remake and Resident Evil Village have done a little better with 7,000 and 5,750 iOS copies sold, respectively.
In comparison, Resident Evil 4 Remake and Resident Evil Village sold 7 million and 10 million copies, respectively, on PC and consoles. There’s no doubt that the high price is one of the reasons these AAA games don’t sell well on mobile, but it’s also the fact that players choose the better gaming experience; and they’re not going to get it on mobile.