The report, which tracked sales data from the game’s December 10, 2024, release on iOS to January 8, indicates that only 9,500 players have paid for the title. It launched at a discounted price of $10 and has since increased to $40, earning Capcom around $7,000 more.

This isn’t the the first time Capcom has seen underwhelming sales for its titles on iOS devices. A report from July 2024 indicated that the iOS release of Resident Evil 7 Biohazard was poorly received, with less than 83,000 downloads at the time and less than 2,000 copies sold.

Even Ubisoft’s attempts at releasing AAA titles on iOS devices haven’t quite been successful, per MobileGamer.biz. Total lifetime revenue for Assassin’s Creed Mirage on iOS totaling up to around $496,000.

These numbers, while far from concrete evidence of any single factor, might be due to a few factors. The key thing to remember is that not all iOS users can play these high-end titles. These have been part of a larger effort by Apple to bring major games to its high-end iPhones and iPads, which often tend to be far from the biggest possible market for the games.

It is also worth noting that mobile gaming might not be an ideal market for titles with larger upfront price tags. The gaming market on both iOS and Android tends to be dominated by free-to-play titles.

Neither Capcom nor Apple have commented on the commercial performance of these titles. However, they’re still great ways to showcase the new hardware on high-end iOS devices.

Apple had terminated the developer accounts for Epic Games earlier this week, citing tweets by Epic boss Tim Sweeny that criticised Apple’s business practices. Prior to that, Apple was ordered by the European Union that it would have to allow third-party apps and app stores on its platforms.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple was compelled to follow the European Union’s DMA policies, which in turn permitted Epic Sweden to sign the developer agreement and get accepted into Apple’s Developer Program.

“Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account,” said Epic Games in a statement. “This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable. We are moving forward as planned to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe. Onward!”

The DMA cited by Epic Games essentially frames Apple as a gatekeeper that has to allow other apps and app stores on to its platforms. Despite Apple owning its platform, the law essentially wants to prevent a singular entity from being the sole distributor of apps, content, or information on a single platform in an attempt to prevent a monopoly from forming on that front. Had it not reversed course on its plans, Apple would have been in breach of the DMA, which would have brought with it incredibly hefty fines for the company if it wanted to continue operating in Europe.

NEW: Apple reverses course, unbanning Epic: “Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA policies. As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program.” https://t.co/9Yr0G07vWt

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) March 8, 2024

The announcement comes on the heels of a recent ruling by the European Union that would force Apple to start allowing alternatives to the App Store on its devices, essentially fostering competition between Apple and other potential app and game stores. Epic Games itself has been quite vocal about wanting to bring the Epic Games Store to iPhones for some time now.

“In terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is taking out one of the largest potential competitors to the Apple App Store,” says Epic Games in a blog post. “They are undermining our ability to be a viable competitor and they are showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or are critical of their unfair practices.”

According to Epic, Apple cited various posts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) where Epic boss Tim Sweeny criticised Apple’s business practices. Apple has also stated that Epic is a threat to its ecosystem. Check out the X posts below.

Epic goes on to talk about the past where it has worked with Apple on releasing various apps, technologies, and even games for Apple’s hardware, including Rocket League Sideswipe, RealityScan, Postparty, Unreal Remote 2, and even contract work for Horizon Chase 2 and Wonderbox.

For its part, Apple has released its own statement (via 9to5mac) about revoking Epic’s developer account, where it says it chose to exercise its rights to terminate Epic’s accounts at its discretion in light of Epic’s “past and ongoing behaviour”.

“Epic’s egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate ‘any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games’ control at any time and at Apple’s sole discretion’,” said Apple in its statement. “In light of Epic’s past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right.”

Many folks on here think of me as an Apple hater. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no other group of designers and engineers on earth who can build as great products as Apple when they are directed towards that end. The woes begin when they are directed not to.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024

Apple leadership faces some massive decisions in the coming weeks as the contradictions between their stated principles and the intended and actual consequences of their present policies are reckoned with: the app store monopoly, the digital goods payments monopoly, the tax, the… pic.twitter.com/mUxV5ypwcd

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024

For context, Fortnite was taken off the iOS and macOS App Store back in 2020. This was set off by Epic Games knowingly breaching App Store guidelines in by adding alternative payment options that circumvented Apple’s own payment system in the iOS version of Fortnite.

While Fortnite still won’t be available on the App Store, Apple’s new policy of allowing other storefronts to be available on iOS devices will allow Epic Games to bring the Epic Games Store to the platform. Through its own store, Epic will be free to allow the download of Fortnite on iOS devices after over 3 years.

As for if Fortnite will ever come to the App Store, Apple told Epic back in September 2021 that it won’t allow the game on to its storefront until all court appeals are done with, which could take as long as five years.

Remember Fortnite on iOS?

How bout we bring that back.

Later this year Fortnite will return in Europe on iOS through the @EpicGames Store.
(shoutout DMA – an important new law in the EU making this possible). @Apple, the world is watching. pic.twitter.com/VdHWTe8i1c

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) January 25, 2024

505 Games announced the delay in a recent Twitter post, saying, “Here at 505 Games and Kojima Productions, we are excited to launch Death Stranding Director’s Cut on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We just need a little more time! Stay tuned for a new release date in early 2024.”

Recently, Kojima Productions announced that it had partnered with A24 (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Uncut Gems, The Whale) for its previously announced Death Stranding movie.

Death Stranding is available on PS5, PS4, and PC. It has been played by over 16 million players across all platforms.

Here at @505_Games and @KojiPro2015_EN, we are excited to launch #DeathStrandingDC on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We just need a little more time!

Stay tuned for a new release date in early 2024.

We can't wait to welcome more Porters to DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT. pic.twitter.com/zCa9Tcecd4

— 505 Games (@505_Games) December 15, 2023

Apple had announced alongside Capcom that Resident Evil Village would be coming to iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max during its event back in September unveiling the new smartphones. The port was largely made possible thanks to the new A17 Pro chip powering iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, which has hardware features like ray tracing, as well as an upscaling tool similar to AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS.

Capcom is also slated to bring Resident Evil 4 to the smartphones, but the company is yet to announce a specific release date for the game. Other studios are also bringing their major releases to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, including Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding Director’s Cut.

The price tag puts Resident Evil 4‘s release on iPhone 15 Pro and other Apple products running on the appropriate hardware in parity with the game’s price on PC and consoles back when it came out earlier this year. Unfortunately, there still isn’t a release date for the game’s smartphone version yet.

The bright side is that buying the game on the App Store allows it to be played on any compatible device. This means that Mac players won’t have to worry about buying the game again for their computers, while also being able to play on their iPhone 15 Pro and supported iPads.

Resident Evil 4, along with Resident Evil Village, got announced for release on iPhone 15 Pro during Apple’s event where it unveiled its latest flagship smartphone earlier this month. Resident Evil Village will be the first of the two titles to hit the App Store with an October 30 release date.

Apple and Capcom had announced that Resident Evil Village would be making its smartphone debut during Apple’s recent event where the company unveiled its new lineup of phones. The game will eventually be joined by Resident Evil 4, as well as a host of other games like Death Stranding Director’s Cut and Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

The port of Resident Evil Village, as well as the upcoming Resident Evil 4 port are possible thanks to the new A17 Pro chip present in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The chip features hardware ray tracing support, as well as upscaling technology similar to AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS.

Resident Evil Village has been quite successful for Capcom, and as of the end of June, had sold over 8.3 million copies. For more details, check out our review of its original release.

According to Capcom, both of the Resident Evil titles will run on the smartphone’s hardware natively, which is thanks in large part to the iPhone 15 Pro’s new A17 Pro chip. The smartphone’s hardware now features support for ray tracing, as well as an upscaling tool similar to AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS.

With the recent slate of games announced for the iPhone 15 Pro, Resident Evil 4 is undoubtedly the most visually impressive one of the bunch. The game was released earlier this year on PC and consoles to critical acclaim. Resident Evil 4 had hit a major milestone back in July, having sold over 5 million copies.

For more details on Resident Evil 4, check out our review. You can also read up on Resident Evil Village in our review from back when the game was released.

While neither company has revealed more details about the port, such as the performance or even how the graphical options in the game will be changed to make the port possible, Death Stranding Director’s Cut coming to the iPhone is a result of the new A17 Pro chip present in the newest flagship iPhone. The chip features new features, including the capability for ray tracing, as well as a new upscaling feature in the vein of AMD’s FSR and Nvidia’s DLSS.

Apple also announced that Assassin’s Creed Mirage would be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro. However, that release is still a while away, with Ubisoft providing a release window of early 2023.

https://twitter.com/KojiPro2015_EN/status/1701743531738702039