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[Jawmuncher]

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A RE7 VS RE6 THREAD.
IT'S NOT A HORROR VS ACTION THREAD.
IT'S A THEORETICAL THREAD ON WHY A CERTAIN GENRE MIGHT STILL EXIST WITHIN THIS FRANCHISE.
DATA WAS USED FOR GENRE PURPOSES ONLY

I don't think it's anything new to say Action sells more than Horror (I'm talking in general here and not just in this series). That just seems to be a fact at this point. However, looking at Steamspy data (Which is not 100% accurate but has been shown time and time again to be pretty close) I came across some interesting stats between the last two major titles of each genre in the series.

Random Tidbits :
-Resident Evil 6 was the first capcom title to cross 1 million sold.
-While Resident Evil VII: Beginning Hour was the first title to cross 1 million (Free Demo)
-Resident Evil VII will see a big player peak and player total when the free Not a Hero DLC releases
-Series Current Ranking (By players in last two weeks) - RE0, REV1, REmake, REV2,RE4, RE5, RE7, RE6
(Series ranking by peak players is the same except Rev1 and REmake are swapped)

Steamspy Data Comparisons

• RE6 and RE7 have had a similar amount of players in the last 2 weeks
• RE6 has had a higher peak of players in the last two weeks. However RE7 and RE6 are constantly the highest played titles in the series
• RE6 worldwide sales have a closer ratio per region in units sold than RE7 does.

Clarification on Data

• RE6 has been in a bundle, while RE7 has not
• Pricing could be a factor in the ratio skew per region in sale comparison
• None of the above data affects player count or time played
• Steam Sale however could be a factor in player count and time
• No way to get similar data for RE games on PS4/XBL (Though for this discussion i'd imagine it's similar on other consoles)

My takes on this current sample size of data

• China seems to love them some Action RE (Especially considering they basically saved RE:TFC box office wise & got the new reboot fast tracked as action again)
• America is definitely the biggest market in general for RE on PC and Horror

-----------

With all of the data out of the way. I think just from this sample size there's a good case to be made that Action RE is still viable (in more ways than one). It has a good presence worldwide and seems to be of interest in the currently growing market of China. However it does seem that currently capcom wants to appeal to the west the most, which is evident with RE7. Since i'd argue it's the west that has clamored for a return to roots more than anyone else. It also kind of fits with their other current trends such as Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter XX on Switch. Where they're now offering more titles to appeal to more aspects of their player base (Lack of XX localization withstanding). So Resident Evil could be in for the same sort of plan from capcom. Especially with a another title being made that isn't RE2 or RE8. This also lines up with prior interviews saying such fans should wait to see what's in store. We might even hear something at Comic Con since more RE news was teased before the theatrical showing of Vendetta.

So what do you think? Is this a stretch? Will capcom indeed go forward with some sort of back and forth for their divided fanbase?

 

[Fat4all]

I mean.

Yeah? Sure?

RE8 is likely going to be an FPS as well, isn't it?

 

[Famassu]

Resident Evil Revelations 3 or something, yeah.

 

[Flandy]

Will Snake be in RE8?

 

[ScaryShark]

I love Resident Evil in its many forms and I think 7 might be the actual best gameplay in the series but I do miss the characters and 3rd person perspective and hope they don't abandon it completely.

The plot is terrible and lore is real dumb and forgettable but I still want Jill, Leon, Claire, Ada, etc. to factor in to the future of the series. I also don't wan't co-op gameplay to go away. They've done it real well a couple times now and I want more of those experiences in the future.

 

[JayEH]

I think so too. Too much money left on the table. They don't even need to go all out like they did in 6 with budget. Hell I'll take a mercs game.

 

[Fat4all]

Resident Evil Revelations 3 or something, yeah.

Yeah, that too.

I don't see why they wouldn't.

 

[Renna Hazel]

I'd so love for the RE4 style to return. Sadly I think the action style would be closer to RE6 if it were to return.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

RE7 is a horror-shooter in the middle of the game and a straight up shooter at the end of the game.

Not sure I get this thread.

 

[kamineko]

A Revelations title. People will want a TPS with familiar characters.

Hopefully it will have a decent budget since it is now the action alternative to the new horror focus of mainline

 

[TreIII]

At a Sengoku BASARA fan event a month ago, Hiroyuki Kobayashi didn't say much, but only said that he couldn't talk about his plans for BASARA until he was done with whatever Biohazard thing he was involved with.

....KobaP apologised for having no real news to discuss, explaining that he was working on Biohazard at the moment but not going into any more detail than that.

- http://www.raindropsanddaydreams.co.uk/2017/05/event-report-basara-club-fan-meeting.html

Hopefully, whatever he's working on is something for the Action-Evil fans.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Jawmuncher, I appreciate you as a passionate fan of DinoCrisis, but you represent all that is unholy and... aw fuck... forget it... carry on.

 

[Dark Ninja]

I hope so the evolution of the mechanics and what we got with RE6 was amazing. I wish they had released more Mercenary maps.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Actually I think they might but I'd prefer a refined RE5 type game over RE6.

Revelations 3 tho? 😏

 

[Khaos Kontrol]

RE8 is likely going to be an FPS as well, isn't it?

Yep. And so will RE9. They do 3 games of the same style and then reinvent for the next game. RE 1,2,3 were fixed camera survival horror. RE 4,5,6 were third person over-the-shoulder survival action.

 

[OniBaka]

Of course

 

[GunBR]

RE 4 is an Action Resident Evil and everyone loves that game

The biggest problem with 5 (IMO) is the obligatory coop (AI or 2p) and 6 is a bad game overall (except some parts of the gameplay)
They could make another action RE, but they need to make a GOOD one

 

[Astral Dog]

I mean they just released a movie

 

[SURGEdude]

China's taste in movies seems to extend to games. God help us all.

 

[Jawmuncher]

At a Sengoku BASARA fan event a month ago, Hiroyuki Kobayashi didn't say much, but only said that he couldn't talk about his plans for BASARA until he was done with whatever Biohazard thing he was involved with.


- http://www.raindropsanddaydreams.co.uk/2017/05/event-report-basara-club-fan-meeting.html

Hopefully, whatever he's working on is something for the Action-Evil fans.

That's interesting. He must be tied to whatever that other title in development is.

 

[Valkerionseven]

RE has never been pure horror in my mind, sure there were some creepy areas, and jump scares not to mention horrific enemies but I would never say it was all horror. Nor was it all action with explosions every two minutes until 6.

Feel like RE0~4 and half of 5 nailed the balance. 6 and 7 went too far in their respective directions imo. The balance has been the revelations series so far.

 

[kuYuri]

Can we also have a RE third person shooter that is not total jank or shit (i.e. Operation Raccoon City and Umbrella Corp).

ORC had so much wasted potential.

 

[SURGEdude]

RE has never been pure horror in my mind, sure there were some creepy areas, and jump scares not to mention horrific enemies but I would never say it was all horror. Nor was it all action with explosions every two minutes until 6.

Feel like RE0~4 and half of 5 nailed the balance. 6 and 7 went too far in their respective directions imo. The balance has been the revelations series so far.

Action RE can absolutely be done right. The problem is that the teams seem better at the mechanics than the rest of it. I'd love a really good pure action RE, but I'm not confident they can deliver. RE 7 was a solid mix leaning towards horror, in almost a mirror image of how RE4 was a great mix that leaned towards action. Or just go straight REmake. They have lots of ways to make an RE game that is great.

 

[Warablo]

I always liked the idea of Operation Racoon City, but it was executed horribly.

I did really enjoy RE5 and RE7. RE6 was trash except for the graphics.

 

[CryptiK]

Yeah there will be one it will be a spin off.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

I think the spinoffs will carry the torch for action gameplay for a bit. Then after the next couple of mainline games, they'll probably change it back up and shift towards something new and more action-oriented.

 

[TriAceJP]

I very much enjoyed RE7 but i've had some great times playing through the co op games with buddies, it would be a damn shame to see those go.

I really hope to see a Rev3 with the co op action.

 

[Bl@de]

I don't have a problem with an action oriented RE. But the only good one was RE4 (and 5 to a certain extent). Most third person RE titles are just bad. I will play Evil Within 2 to get my Action-Horror fix. Mikami is still the best at headshots.

 

[FearEffectInferno]

So what do you think? Is this a stretch? Will capcom indeed go forward with some sort of back and forth for their divided fanbase?

They divided the fans, a lot of times, and that's something that always bothered me. I loved all the main Resident Evil games so far except 4 which I wasn't a huge fan because of the gameplay. I always thought Revelations 2 should've been part of the main franchise. Anyways, I may have enjoyed RE7 but I wouldn't want them to stick with the new gameplay and character, nor Weirdfield. Or at least, I'd prefer a Revelations 3 over a Resident Evil 8. I wanna bring back Piers.

 

[Starbuck2907]

I like 7, but 4 and 5 were my favs. 6 was too much action. The revelations series doesn't do it for me. It always seems like B-team RE.

 

[ArtHands]

I think its rather obvious that they are not going to abandon action RE at all. Its what revived the series in the first place with RE4.

RE7 is a great pandering to the fans, but you cant please everyone. Some want actions, some want horror. So I think they should and will go into both directions seperately to cater both spectrum.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

They damn well better if they want my money.

It doesn't even have to be full action, get me some inbetweens like Revelations 2 or Psycho Break

 

[takriel]

due to it is worldwide appeal?

 

[Ydelnae]

I never thought they would be gone forever, however I think they will be less of a super AAA production and something more humble like the Revelations games. Can't see Capcom investing into a game like RE6 right now.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

RE6 was awful...

RE5 was a much tighter gameplay experience. It was more action than horror, but in the best kind of way. Sure it had it's classic jump the shark moments, but it was a miles better RE game than RE6 (which tried to cram in too many characters and went off the deep end in terms of action - those QTEs.... uuggghhh!!).

If it was up to me, I'd have Capcom go back to the storytelling and atmosphere of RE2/3, and the gameplay of RE5. That would be a perfect combination, imho.

 

[Shifty]

J-J-J-Jawmuncher thread.

I'd dig it if Capcom could see their way clear to making Action RE the steadfast spinoff series instead of dabbling in stuff like Umbrella Corps. Just bring back the RE6 shootbang mechanics please.

 

[TheSpoiler]

This isn't a dino crisis thread?

 

[Santar]

Hopefully the closest we get to action evil is Revelations 3 as REV 2 had a good mix of action and horror.
Rev 2 should have been RE 6 and RE 6 should've just been a spin off.

 

[Creaking]

I'd buy another game that plays like RE6, sure. Well, more the core shooting, dodging, meleeing, and countering gameplay than the QTEs and all that.

 

[120v]

yeah, i mean it's no secret action RE isn't going anywhere. it just won't be mainline

 

[Sojgat]

RE6 is my favourite Resident Evil.

It's a highly flawed game (overuse of QTEs, constant cinematic interruptions, disjointed combat encounters, awful driving set pieces) but I love the shit out of the combat mechanics. I would be all for a numbered sequel or a spin-off with that type of gameplay.

 

[lutheran]

I'd so love for the RE4 style to return. Sadly I think the action style would be closer to RE6 if it were to return.

This, I mean it must have done very well considering it was ported to almost even device under the sun. Even iOS and Android.

 

[dlauv]

There's a place for it the same reason there's a place for the Resident Evil movies.

I think the last movie is the most successful the franchise has ever been, in spite of probably being the worst one yet. Kind of like RE6!

I don't know what attracts people to these hot-mess trainwrecks and I certainly wouldn't want them to die out for good. They're like AAA, super high budget B-movies. Real disasterpieces. With 4 and 5 they at least played well enough to make the packages legendary in their own ways. I'd like for them to take RE6, tidy up the controls and make the gunplay a lot better. Also, make the level design less miserable.

That said, not at the expense of genuinely good horror titles.

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

I wish "action RE" just became its own series at this point.

 

[Shredderi]

I think they will double down on action now that RE7 failed to sell to their expectations. They did horror and it reviewed very well and it didn't sell to their expectations. Now they can pat themselves in the back and say that they tried but now it's time to have Chris punch even bigger boulders!

 

[Sojgat]

Resident Evil: Vendetta - Chris & Leon vs. Zombies

Give me this in game form.

 

[Crankshaft]

Just give me Mercenaries\Raid Mode. That's all I need.

 

[Renekton]

Quick question.

Did Resident Evil 4 aim for horror or retro camp?

 

[KyleCross]

It'll be a baffling business decision if Resident Evil 8 isn't an action title on Capcom's part. It doesn't matter if you love RE7 and want that style to continue into RE8, 7 only sold 3.5 million whereas 6 sold 7 million. Hell, it sold an additional 1 million just from being re-released on modern consoles, and that's after years of poor word of mouth. You can't ignore that.

Capcom wanted to try to make a horror RE again considering how long it has been since their last one and there was a successful resurgence in horror games in recent years. They had faith it could sell a lot, but it didn't. Of course due to its lower budget it was still successful, but a company shouldn't just ignore the massive sales gap between 7 and 6.

People are saying Revelations will continue action RE. If anything it'll continue the horror side. And that makes sense. Hear me out; Horror is subtle. You do not need a large budget to pull off horror well. The budget the Revelation games get would fit horror perfectly. Action on the other hand can't be done well on a small budget. In that regard it'd make sense to have horror RE be Revelations (which was the entire reason that sub-series was created, but they still ended up bleeding the modern action RE into it) and action RE be numbered, because numbered entries would generally allow a bigger budget.

Due to the lower budget that horror needs and Capcom learning their lesson to reel the budget in a bit after RE6 there is absolutely no reason Capcom shouldn't be able to make both fans happy. They should be able to make both horror RE and action RE one after another. But they're not going to do that cause that'd be smart. Capcom instead is going to keep this personality crisis where they keep changing the genre, always pissing off a chunk of the fanbase who wants the other genre.

Quick question.

Did Resident Evil 4 aim for horror or retro camp?

I heard a story that the Japanese script was dead serious, but the English localization team ended up camping it up.

 

[Shredderi]

I heard a story that the Japanese script was dead serious, but the English localization team ended up camping it up.

God bless them for that.