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Appmagic estimates suggest that Resident Evil 7, the latest console game to arrive as an iOS exclusive, has attracted under 2,000 paying customers.

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, big-name console game ports like Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 and Death Stranding have all performed poorly since release. All of these titles have been promoted by Apple in its keynotes as examples of its new iPhones’ technical capabilities.

The latest of those games, Resident Evil 7, was released on July 2. But perhaps unsurprisingly, market estimates suggest it’s the same story for Capcom’s latest iOS port. It has been downloaded just over 83,000 times since it was released on July 2, according to Appmagic.

The same data source suggests Resident Evil 7 has earned Capcom an estimated $28,140, a figure that does not include Apple’s 30% platform cut. Add the 30% and divide that by the $20 fee to unlock the full game and even with some generous rounding up you land at under 2,000 paying customers.

As we’ve reported previously, it seems the only way these console game ports make any sort of business sense is that Apple is paying for the likes of Capcom and Ubisoft to bring them to iOS, but that is unconfirmed.

Resident Evil 7, like most of the other console titles Apple has (presumably) helped bring to iOS, is only playable on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, plus high-end iPads with an M1 chip and above.

The title was first released on console and PC back in January 2017. It is also $20 on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox currently, but is clearly unsuited for native play on Apple’s hardware. The game’s App Store listing strongly suggests using a dedicated game controller. “Using a controller will provide a better experience,” says the listing. “Note: Please check the Apple website for controllers compatible with iPad. Not all controllers will work as intended.”

The game’s 25GB file size also presents a problem when it comes to installing the game. The Resident Evil 7 store page estimates a download time of over six hours based on a connection speed of 10Mbps, with 30-40 minutes expected on a 100Mbps connection and an 8-10 minute install time on 300Mbps.

The product page also states that the installation process “requires that you have at least twice the size of the application in free storage space available”.

There’s an additional warning on the game’s product page that “After purchase, returns (including exchange for other products/services) will not be provided for any reason.”

Under 2,000 people have paid to play Resident Evil 7 on iOS, estimates say - Mobilegamer.biz

Appmagic estimates suggest that, rather unsurprisingly, the latest console game port to come to iOS has also flopped.

mobilegamer.biz

 

[Crayon]

This is why your metrics should not count mobile games and traditional games as one block. They are totally different. I don't want to play a match 3 game like they don't want to play resident evil.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Imagine the heat pouring off that back of all those phones. Toasty.

 

[Moses85]

 

[Danjin44]

How would you even enjoy atmospheric game like REVII on the phone, in the bus with all that background noise?

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Console games on iOS make no sense unless Apple makes a handheld, which they could easily do.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I assumed it wouldn’t sell that great honestly, but that’s much worst than I expected. Then again the game is ancient and I’m not sure if a console game like that is a good fit for mobile.

 

[Big Baller]

Epic fail

 

[Dorfdad]

It’s been out for years!! Stop trying to push old games to new platforms and expecting a million sales. Most of the gamers who own Mac’s already plaid it. Put new releases up and numbers will be better! But nowhere near others due to having to have more expensive hardware to game on

 

[bender]

That seems impossibly bad.

 

[The_hunter]

I have to imagine Apple paid them to port the game on IOS, in turn porting the RE:engine to IOS. This allows future ports of all their other games.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I bit the bullet and purchased the game for my work iPhone.

My use case is that I'm in college with shared living accommodations. I have no space for a console or TV right now. Laying in bed at night playing with headphones on let me immerse myself in the atmosphere. I use a series x controller so that it plays identical to console. It has been a fantastic experience and in the end don't believe everything you read on the internet because none of the above is real and no one wants this shit on phones. IPhone sucks, you suck, thanks for reading.

 

[The_hunter]

I bit the bullet and purchased the game for my work iPhone.

My use case is that I'm in college with shared living accommodations. I have no space for a console or TV right now. Laying in bed at night playing with headphones on let me immerse myself in the atmosphere. I use a series x controller so that it plays identical to console. It has been a fantastic experience and in the end don't believe everything you read on the internet because none of the above is real and no one wants this shit on phones. IPhone sucks, you suck, thanks for reading.

 

[Danjin44]

I bit the bullet and purchased the game for my work iPhone.

My use case is that I'm in college with shared living accommodations. I have no space for a console or TV right now. Laying in bed at night playing with headphones on let me immerse myself in the atmosphere. I use a series x controller so that it plays identical to console. It has been a fantastic experience and in the end don't believe everything you read on the internet because none of the above is real and no one wants this shit on phones. IPhone sucks, you suck, thanks for reading.

Maybe I’m wrong here, if that’s the case wouldn't be better to bring laptop and play REVII on it rather than on the phone?

 

[Comandr]

I mean that's not bad for a 7 year old "high priced" game that's only been out for two weeks on a platform with no physical controls?

I'd say the real strategy for putting these games on the platform is not to sell to make money per se, but to broaden the awareness of the games themselves. To expose as many people to the gameplay of RE as possible so when the next entry hits, they're more likely to buy it. You don't need to buy the game to do that.

Show me the number of people that played the free segments of the iOS games and then went on to purchase them on a different platform.

How would you even enjoy atmospheric game like REVII on the phone, in the bus with all that background noise?

You realize that one of the most popular iphone accessories are noise cancelling earbuds right? I would imagine that the spatial audio with airpods pro is actually pretty good.

 

[ssringo]

I feel like everyone involved knew it wasn't going to sell a lot. Just perhaps not  that little.

 

[RoboFu]

Do you think gamers who own iPhones were just waiting 7 years for this release?

I'm kind of surprise death stranding pulled 10k downloads.

 

[Danjin44]

I feel like everyone involved knew it wasn't going to sell a lot. Just perhaps not  that little.

Problem is people who don’t own console or gaming PC are people who don’t want to spend money on gaming so they are not willing to pay full price for this game, this why most mobile games are F2P because they just want small distraction when they on the bus.

There is no clear market for full price game on the phone.

 

[Synless]

How would you even enjoy atmospheric game like REVII on the phone, in the bus with all that background noise?

Noise cancelling headphones.

 

[RoboFu]

Problem is people who don’t own console or gaming PC are people who don’t want to spend money on gaming so they are not willing to pay full price for this game, this why most mobile games are F2P because they just want small distraction when they on the bus.

There is no clear market for full price game on the phone.

There would be if they launch day one with everyone else. Which will happen one day. Sooner than later.

 

[Danjin44]

You realize that one of the most popular iphone accessories are noise cancelling earbuds right? I would imagine that the spatial audio with airpods pro is actually pretty good.

Maybe this just me but when I’m outside I want to be aware of my surroundings, even when I listen to music I don't put it too loud because I want be aware what happening around me.

Sorry I just can’t imagine enjoying game like REVII outside on the bus.

 

[Moses85]

Do you think gamers who own iPhones were just waiting 7 years for this release?

I'm kind of surprise death stranding pulled 10k downloads.

Hideo gave them away for free

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Maybe I’m wrong here, if that’s the case wouldn't be better to bring laptop and play REVII on it rather than on the phone?

Yeah something tells me you didn't actually read what you replied to.

 

[Danjin44]

Yeah something tells me you didn't actually read what you replied to.

I know "dont believe what you read" on your post but even that situation laptop PC would be better choice than playing on the phone.

 

[old-parts]

That number seems too low even for a failure on iOS app store, Apple was pushing and marketing these games on iPhones.

The user base of iPhones in the USA alone is around 125 million.

 

[Dacvak]

Hey, I’m doing my part. I bought Death Stranding on iOS and it runs shockingly well on an iPhone 15 Pro.

I also really enjoyed the automatic cross saves between phone/macos. So I would play it with full visuals at 60fps on my MBP, then pick up where I left off at 30fps on my phone.

The only downside is Death Stranding is boring as fuck. I should have bought RE7.

 

[The Pleasure]

Change movie to video game and it's essentially the same.

 

[Skifi28]

It’s been out for years!! Stop trying to push old games to new platforms and expecting a million sales.

I don't think anyone was expecting millions, but there's a middle ground between 2000 and millions. Ghost of Tsushima is also very old and sold a metric ton on a new platform.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Apple allowed their App Store to be flooded with cheap ftp junk, and thus cultivated an audience that doesn’t care to buy games.

I’m surprised it sold two thousand copies.

 

[KemoSabe]

Imagine the heat pouring off that back of all those phones. Toasty.

This.
Play for 20 minutes until the iPhone shuts down

 

[tusharngf]

seems like people love free games on mobile stores..

 

[Sakura]

The people who are interested in games like this already have consoles/PCs.

 

[sendit]

Not surprised. You can play for maybe 10-ish minutes before your phone feels like it's about to melt.

 

[tkscz]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Apple created the mobile app store ecosystem of free-2-play or/to free-to-pay. People want free or cheap quick experiences on their phones, the idea of paying more than $5 for any form of game or app is just out of the question. Biggest games on either app stores that can be seen as close to console are free like Genshin Impact or CoD: Mobile or Fortnite. Once you're start charging, people are out, with Japan being the only exception I can think of.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I really thought this was a great idea at first, the idea that you can buy a game on Mac and play it on your iPad/iPhone on the move seemed great, especially as I’m already heavily embedded in the Apple ecosystem

Two things are apparent from this…

- Mobile gamers have been conditioned to only engage in free to play

- Mobile gaming has peaked and is seeing a decline