While Resident Evil 7: Biohazard may have been met with critical acclaim, and deemed a return to form for the series, sales have not been quite as strong as previous entries in the series.
Many have therefore speculated that Capcom already considers the gamble to be a financial failure, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
In a recent Q&A, Capcom explained that the game may very well meet internal expectations, and that the game selling less units at launch than its predecessors generally can be attributed to game sales being less front loaded these days.
"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".
"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."
Dead Rising 4, meanwhile, shipped late last year, and while reviews certainly weren't bad, it failed to capture the wider audience that Capcom and Microsoft was hoping for.
Sales have been slower than expected, and Capcom has also taken the opportunity afforded to them by the same Q&A to address the performance of the game.
Capcom reckons that it was the game's more "approachable" style that kept it from reaching its intended audience:
"Compared to the series up to now, this game was made more approachable in order to allow a wider audience to enjoy it. However, there was a wider range of opinions for the new game. Moving forward, we intend to grow unit sales on a continuous basis by releasing additional digital download content while implementing updates for improvements."
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