Resident Evil 4 is comfortably the best-selling of all remakes and remasters to be launched during the PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X|S console generation.
This is according to Alinea Analytics, one of the most prominent data companies that estimate sales volumes in the gaming industry.
Alinea Analytics estimates place Resident Evil 4 at 16.8 million sales – over double its nearest competitor, Ark: Survival Ascended, which had 7 million sales.
Other popular remakes include The Last of Us Part 1 (6.3 million), Oblivion (4.5 million), Dead Space (4.3 million), and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (4.2 million).
These numbers are based on estimated sales since 10 November 2020.
Platform insights
According to Alinea Analytics, Resident Evil 4 sold 46.9% of copies on PlayStation, 42.9% on Steam, and 10.1% on Xbox.
The remake is one of the most successful single-player horror games of all time, generating well over $500 million (R8.26 billion) in gross revenue to date.
Ark: Survival Ascended has performed impressively since its late-2023 release.
It has sold approximately 3.9 million copies on Steam, 2.1 million copies on PlayStation, and 1 million on Xbox.
Player counts have been significantly higher, as the game was released on both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass in 2024 – adding over 6 million people to the playerbase.
Notably, nearly 75% of Steam buyers played the original Ark: Survival Evolved game – highlighting the importance of nostalgia in generating high sales volumes for remakes and remasters.
More remakes
Remakes and remasters have spiked in popularity in recent years.
The reason for this is simple: they tend to be a reliable way to reach a substantial audience without as much investment.
The games that are remade or remastered were almost always successful in their original form, meaning gamers are more willing to give the new version of the game a chance.
This leads to solid sales numbers, and that is before the nostalgia element: players who enjoyed the original game want to enjoy the same experience, but with modern graphics and mechanics.
Furthermore, these games require less total work from studios, as a lot of the time-consuming elements of developing a game are already complete.
Story, missions, characters, and mechanics all exist – allowing studios to build games that will generate large sales volumes, faster, and without paying as many employees.
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