While Capcom has celebrated the fact that most of its sales for Resident Evil Requiem have been digital, as caught by The Game Business co-founder Christopher Dring, the reality of game sales when it comes to digital and physical varies quite a bit depending on the region. Citing Ampere Analytics’ data, Dring acknowledged that only 22 percent of Resident Evil Requiem’s US-based players got physical copies. However, elsewhere in the world the split between digital and physical has been more even.
France, for instance, saw more than 55 percent of the sales of Resident Evil Requiem being physical copies. Japan, similarly, saw 51 percent. Australia saw 43 percent, and the UK saw 40 percent. The key takeaway from this is that “not all markets are built the same when it comes to the digital transition.”
It is worth noting that, during the Q&A part of its recent earnings report, Capcom had said that 90 percent of its unit sales have been digital. To that end, the company also doesn’t believe that its business will see a “significant impact” from Sony’s January 2028 deadline to end the production of PlayStation discs.
During the same Q&A, Capcom had also noted that the strong sales of Resident Evil Requiem have led to a larger boost for the entire franchise, causing spikes in the sales of the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes.
“Sales of Resident Evil series titles grew amid rising interest in Resident Evil Requiem. We have also seen new users who encountered the series by purchasing past titles, creating a virtuous cycle in which sales of both new and past titles grow together. With Resident Evil Veronica, we will likewise work to further expand sales of the series.”
As for the debate between physical and digital copies of games, a recent report has indicated that Sony’s plans might hit a major roadblock due to worldwide lawsuits. Antitrust concerns have also been brought up, with many arguing that the push towards an all-digital future will essentially destroy the second-hand market for PlayStation games. This argument is further bolstered by the fact that Sony makes around 30 percent of the price of each game it sells.
Sony has been drawing quite a bit of criticism and backlash following its announcement that production of PlayStation discs will stop in January 2028. Despite this, CFO Lin Tao has said that the company strongly believes that “digitalization is progressing” beyond games.
“There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing, that’s the big factor,” she said. “It’s not just PlayStation, but for all kinds of content, digitalization is progressing. And so, when we think about the future – and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this – and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward. And to this decision, we have received various opinions and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us.”
