[Update] Capcom Explains Why Resident Evil 7's Initial Shipments Were Lower Than Past Games

Resident Evil 7 shipped 2.5 million copies in its launch week, which is well below the numbers that Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 5 did. The game has gone on to ship 3 million units as of February 10, but the game needs to ship a further 1 million units by the end of March to reach Capcom's 4 million unit projections. In the English translation of an earnings Q&A session published today, Capcom management explained the downward trend and said it believes it is "wholly possible" for Resident Evil 7 to reach the forecasted target by the end of March.

"Compared to Resident Evil 6, [Resident Evil 7's initial 3 million in shipments] may seem like a lower initial pace, however this can be attributed to the recent wider adoption of digital downloads and the transition from a sharp initial spike in sales for games to a continuous long tail," Capcom said.

"Further, we believe that achieving our fiscal year target of 4 million units for this title is wholly possible, as we expect sales to continue for a longer period, buoyed on highly positive post-launch reviews from both the media and consumers."

Also in the Q&A, Capcom talked about how Resident Evil 7's DLC should help "stimulate continuous interest" in the game, which in turn should help the game sell well over an extended period of time. Overall, Capcom says Resident Evil 7's DLC will be an "important" element to help the game exceed the sales of Resident Evil 6, which is Capcom's second best-selling game ever, at 6.7 million units.

The first Resident Evil 7 DLC, Banned Footage Vol. 1, came out just a week after the game launched. The next add-on, Banned Footage Vol. 2, launched on Tuesday.

Capcom also confirmed that Resident Evil 7 has already recouped its development cost.