Resident Evil 2 PS5 Sales Nearly Double After Cregger Film, But Discounts Did Most of the Work

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil film opened September 18 to strong box office numbers, but analysis shows that carefully timed game discounts, not the movie alone, were the primary driver behind a surge in Resident Evil game sales.

According to Alinea analyst Rhys Elliott, Capcom discounted multiple Resident Evil titles on September 10 and maintained those discounts after the film's release. "Almost all the copy movement was on PlayStation," Elliott wrote. "Resident Evil 2 nearly doubled on PS5 while doing just +16% on Steam, and Resident Evil 4 jumped +77% on PS5 versus a flat 0% on Steam."

Even after accounting for the discount effect, Elliott noted that Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 saw additional gains of 50-65% on PS5, which Elliott attributed to the games sharing the film's Raccoon City setting along with "a mix of nostalgia, quality." On Steam, the movie's impact was more modest, with an 11-14% increase.

The sales patterns reveal a meaningful distinction between platforms. PlayStation players drove nearly all unit sales growth across the franchise, while PC showed considerably smaller gains despite the film's release. Resident Evil 2 saw its daily player count jump 48% across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC combined, though PS5 accounted for the bulk of that movement.

Related titles also benefited from renewed interest. Resident Evil 3 Remake gained 25% in daily players, while Resident Evil 4 Remake added 24%. Resident Evil Requiem, which received a 30% discount and was priced at $49 in September before returning to $70, saw a 20% increase in player activity.

Elliott noted that the film's impact on game sales remained constrained because it tells an original story with a new protagonist, leaving newcomers without a clear entry point into the games. "The movie tells an original story with a new lead, so newcomers have no obvious game to jump into," he wrote, contrasting this with upcoming opportunities like Resident Evil Veronica, which already has nearly 2 million Steam wishlists and features returning character Claire Redfield.

The Resident Evil film itself performed well at the box office, opening stronger than expected and earning over $196 million globally. It ranks as the fourth highest-grossing live-action Resident Evil film, behind 2016's The Final Chapter at $312 million. The film received a metascore of 79 on Metacritic from 51 reviews.