Capcom's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard scared the competition on its way to the top U.S. sales this January.
The NPD Group, a market research firm, has confirmed that the survival-horror pioneering game bested all other games in January in terms of sales. The exact number has not been released, but earlier reports indicate that RE7 shipped 3 million units since its launch on Jan. 24.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is the seventh game in the Resident Evil franchise. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game received positive reviews for its gameplay and atmosphere.
January's Top 10 Titles
The NPD report covered the period of Jan. 1-29, making the feat stellar as Resident Evil 7 only had five days to sell, it being released on Jan. 24.
Capcom's survival horror beat the likes of fan-favorite Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which landed at No. 2. Perennial bestseller Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games wound up at No. 3; World War 1 shooter Battlefield 1 by EA DICE took No. 4; and basketball fan-favorite NBA 2K17 by 2K Games fell to the No. 5 spot.
Rounding up the top 10 are Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (No. 6), Madden NFL 17 (No. 7), Watch Dogs 2 (No. 8), Overwatch (No. 9), and FIFA 17 (No. 10).
5 Days To The Top
According to NPD analyst Sam Naji, Resident Evil 7's January feat is the first time Capcom snagged the monthly sales crown.
"The last time Capcom had the best-selling game of the month, in dollar sales, was in March 2009 with Resident Evil 5," said Naji.
This feat is even more impressive as RE7 is said to have influenced the overall sales for video game software. The consumer spending went up to $313 million, an increase by 14 percent, Naji confirmed.
"This was due in large part to the stronger comparison this January with the release of Capcom's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard," he said.
Return To Form, Return To The Top
Many critics praised RE7 for bringing back the horror in the survival horror genre it pioneered. Reviewers point to the title's return to roots, ditching the fast-paced adrenaline-induced action to a slower but creeping atmospheric horror.
The series also reinvented itself for its use of the first-person perspective, a formula popular with other horror titles. This POV move was met with unease before its release, but the switch of gameplay from fast action to slow terror made sense in the overall horror logic of the game.f
