Capcom: Survival Horror market small for Resident Evil 6, action-oriented game equals more sales

The Call of Duty money surely is attractive for most developers, isn’t it? Guess what? Capcom wants a piece of it as well. They know the North American market is extremely important for Resident Evil 6, and they’re taking the game in a direction that will bring them a lot of sales.

Resident Evil: Revelations producer, Masachika Kawata said in an interview with Gamasutra that, making a survival horror game these days simply isn’t feasible. The market is extremely small, and chances of making money back is very slim.

“Especially for the North American market, I think the series needs to head in that [action-oriented] direction. “[Resident Evil’s primary games] need to be an extension of the changes made in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5,” he said.

“RE4 started in that direction, and RE5 kept going in that direction. And I think that especially for the North American market, we need to keep going in that direction, and take that a step further. And that’s exactly one of the reasons that Revelations is the way it is,” he added.

He mentioned that Capcom has to find a way to keep the identity of Resident Evil in place, while making it accessible and interesting to people who dislike survival horror games. It’s all about “extending” the market.

“So I think that by extending the market in this sense, we can still have the numbered titles keep their identity about what Resident Evil is supposed to be, but still expand and hit other markets as well,” he revealed.

“If we’re going to make games that sell based on quality content, they should be able to appeal around the world,” said Kawata. “That might be obvious, but that’s why Grand Theft Auto IV, Skyrimand Call of Duty: Modern Warfare also sell in Japan, because their gameplay is interesting.”

It’s a bit disappointing that they aren’t making a pure survival horror game, and one glimpse at the Resident Evil 6 trailer will tell you that Capcom has changed. Resident Evil has changed.

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