{"id":517319,"date":"2026-03-06T03:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T03:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517319\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T03:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T03:47:15","slug":"capcom-delivered-a-marketing-masterclass-with-resident-evil-requiem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517319\/","title":{"rendered":"Capcom delivered a marketing masterclass with Resident Evil Requiem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen now on Apple<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

In This Edition
– How Resident Evil Requiem did it
– AI video game recommendations
– PlayStation scaling back PC support?<\/p>\n

Hello there!<\/p>\n

Today, I thought I\u2019d dive into something more fun and look at how Capcom delivered a record-breaking hit in Resident Evil Requiem.<\/p>\n

I also teamed up with Fancensus to look at what AI is recommending to gamers. <\/p>\n

On the Show today, I am joined by GameSpot writer, presenter and producer Lucy James, where we discuss those topics, plus PlayStation\u2019s apparent PC pivot, The Sims 4\u2019s new UGC approach, and the US Government\u2019s investigation of Tencent.<\/p>\n

As always, you can watch or listen to the whole thing above. Or check out my write-up below! Enjoy. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Resident Evil Requiem is a record breaker with five million sales in under a week. <\/p>\n

By comparison, 2023\u2019s Resident Evil 4 Remake took three months to hit that number, and 2021\u2019s Resident Evil Village took five months. Requiem sold best on PS5, but there was a huge jump in PC players. The game\u2019s peak Steam concurrent player number of 344,214 was more than double the previous best (2023\u2019s Resident Evil 4). <\/p>\n

In the press release celebrating the result, Capcom cited Requiem\u2019s \u201cworldwide acclaim\u201d for its commercial success. <\/p>\n

And indeed, Requiem was well built for success. A multitude of difficulty options, two playing perspectives (third and first-person), a mix of action and horror, and a high quality experience across all major platforms. The game walked the line between broad appeal and staying true to the core Resident Evil experience, and delivered a great game.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to it than that. Resident Evil has been brilliant for some time. In fact, since the 2017 Resident Evil 7, the franchise has barely put a foot wrong. Requiem wouldn\u2019t have succeeded if it wasn\u2019t great, but this level of record-breaking success was delivered through a masterclass in video game marketing. Here\u2019s how they did it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the biggest changes with this Resident Evil campaign is where Capcom chose to announce it. The last five Resident Evil games were all announced during either a PlayStation E3 conference or a State of Play broadcast. PlayStation has always been the spiritual home for Resident Evil, and its narrative-focus fits well with the PlayStation console audience. The partnership made sense.<\/p>\n

But with Requiem, Capcom instead teamed up with Summer Game Fest. SGF is a multiplatform event, and Capcom \u2013 alongside the entire industry \u2013 has seen growth on PC at the expense of console. In other words, if Capcom wants to attract more users to Resident Evil, it will want to get in front of PC players.<\/p>\n

The reveal itself was effective. In order to deliver the surprise, Capcom first showed a video where it told fans to \u2018bear with us a little longer\u2019 before it could show the new Resident Evil game. That \u2018little longer\u2019 turned out to be less than 20 minutes. The first Requiem trailer introduced the new character of Grace Ashcroft, but also featured glimpses of the classic Resident Evil location of Raccoon City, providing an entry point for new players and something for old fans to get excited about.<\/p>\n

Limited hands-on was offered to media at the time, and the overall buzz saw Requiem surge to over one million wishlists by the end of the month. Resident Evil also comfortably ended the Summer Game Fest period as the most talked about and covered game of the show.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The demo was taken to Gamescom and PAX for consumers to play. And more footage was shown of the new character alongside the European trade show. <\/p>\n

But the next major development for Requiem came in September with the news it would launch on Nintendo Switch 2.<\/p>\n

Resident Evil has a long history with Nintendo platforms stretching back to the \u2018impossible port\u2019 of Resident Evil 2 on the N64, followed by a series of exclusive games for Nintendo GameCube, Wii, GameBoy Color and 3DS. Capcom released cloud versions of some of its Resident Evil games on Nintendo Switch, but with Switch 2 it was converting all its modern Resident Evil games \u2013 7, Village and Requiem \u2013 to run natively on the platform. What\u2019s more, Nintendo was leaning in, with special edition controllers and Amiibo to complement the launch. The whole reveal was part of a Nintendo Direct broadcast. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely a decent proportion of Switch 2 owners also own other devices capable of playing Requiem. But over time, Nintendo does tend to attract a broader player base, and it\u2019s another new audience for Resident Evil to bring in.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The game\u2019s next major beat took place at The Game Awards in December. Here, it revealed that fan-favourite Leon S Kennedy would be the second playable character for the game. The announcement was so well received that Requiem repeated its Summer Game Fest result, and was the most covered and talked about game of the show. It also achieved the highest trailer views. <\/p>\n

Going into this year, Requiem was easily 2026\u2019s second most anticipated video game by every metric \u2013 Steam Wishlists, social engagement, trailer views, article posts and comments. It was only beaten by Grand Theft Auto 6. Capcom then ramped up further, with a standalone broadcast, appearances in Nintendo and Sony digital events, plus partnerships with Nvidia, Porsche, Hamilton watches and Fortnite. <\/p>\n

All of which delivered a launch unlike Resident Evil has ever seen. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, a video game website (Videogamer.com) published a review for Resident Evil Requiem that was entirely written by AI. <\/p>\n

Naturally, it caused uproar, and the website has since been removed from Metacritic.<\/p>\n

But it got us thinking: What is AI saying about your video game?<\/p>\n

Media data tracker Fancensus has been running a project since January 19 where it\u2019s been asking various AI platforms questions around what video games they recommend people.<\/p>\n

Specifically, they asked six different types of questions to ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and did it twice a day until March 2.<\/p>\n

The first questions were things like: \u2018recommend some games for me\u2019 or \u2018what games should I play next?\u2019 This wasn\u2019t specifically for unreleased games. And these were the results<\/p>\n

Top Recommended Games: AI Query Mentions vs Press Headlines <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Top Recommended Games Ranking: AI Platform Comparison <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Top Cited Sources for Recommended Games: % of Responses Cited<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Perplexity almost only focused on unreleased games, whereas Gemini also focused a lot on titles that aren\u2019t out yet. This suggests both were influenced more by the news cycle. ChatGPT arguably did a better job by suggesting games that are available for consumers today. ChatGPT didn\u2019t mention Grand Theft Auto 6 at all.<\/p>\n

You can also see a marked difference in what the AI platforms were using as their sources. ChatGPT is particularly reliant on Wikipedia, which is its No.1 source. Gemini uses Wikipedia, too, but it\u2019s only the 12th most common source for Google\u2019s AI assistant. During a similar study during The Game Awards, Fancensus found that Wikipedia was a major source for AI platforms.<\/p>\n

Both ChatGPT and Gemini cite places like Metacritic and Gamesradar. ChatGPT also used Nintendo.com and The Verge, whereas Gemini did not. Meanwhile, Gemini made use of YouTube, IGN and Reddit, whereas ChatGPT did not.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, Fancensus also analysed what AI is recommending people to wishlist or pre-order:<\/p>\n

Top Recommended Upcoming Games: AI Query Mentions vs Press Headlines<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Top Recommended Upcoming Games Ranking: AI Platform Comparison<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Note: ChatGPT No.1 is WWE 2K26. No.4 is Monster Hunters Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, No.7 is Pragmata<\/p>\n

The top recommended upcoming games are not too surprising, and largely mirror our own report last month.<\/a> Marvel\u2019s Wolverine is No.2 overall, although ChatGPT only recommended that at No.15. ChatGPT didn\u2019t really recommend Wolverine at all until that release date announcement, which caused a spike in press and social coverage.<\/p>\n

Resident Evil Requiem was No.4, and it had a big spike in the week ahead of release, with a rise of 45% in terms of references. 007 First Light is at No.5. Interestingly, the State of Play trailer didn\u2019t cause much of an impact on the AI mentions for the James Bond game, despite causing an uptick in press and YouTube activity.<\/p>\n

LEGO Batman had a 100% surge in recommendations from AI after the game\u2019s character announcement last week, which again boosted press headlines.<\/p>\n

Thank you to Fancensus for the insight.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Google will reduce commission rates on in-app purchases from 30% to 20%. It\u2019s also decoupling its payment system from the Play Store, allowing developers to use whatever payment provider they like. Developers using Google Play\u2019s billing system in the US, UK and European Economic Area will pay an additional 5% service fee, while developers in otxher regions will pay a rate specific to their market. The new service fees will take effect by June 30, 2026 across Europe, the US and US. It will hit Australia by the end of September and Korea and Japan by the end of December. It\u2019ll reach all markets by the end of September 2027. It follows an on-going dispute between Epic and Google.<\/p>\n

Highguard will \u2018permanently shut down\u2019 just weeks after its release. The online shooter attracted two million players since launch, but failed to retain them. <\/p>\n

VR development specialist nDreams has announced a major restructuring that will result in \u201csignificant\u201d layoffs and the closure of two internal studios. A consultation process was started today.<\/p>\n

Build A Rocket Boy is making further redundancies, blaming on-going industry difficulties and \u2018corporate sabotage\u2019. It didn\u2019t mention the low-quality, poorly received game it published last year.<\/p>\n

Former Humble Bundle executives have bought the publisher\u2019s back catalogue from Zif Davies (the parent company of Humble Bundle). The new publisher, Good Games Group, have acquired over 50 titles including A Hat In Time, Forager and Slay the Spire.<\/p>\n

According to Bloomberg,<\/a> Sony has decided to pull back from releasing first party PlayStation 5 games on PC. In particular, single-player games such as Ghost of Yotei. Recent single-player PlayStation 5 titles such as Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarok have sold relatively low numbers on Steam. However, live service games such as Helldivers 2 has proven to be a hit. Upcoming multiplayer games Marathon and Marvel Tokon are still expected to launch on PC.<\/p>\n

Companies from more than 40 countries are taking part in Gamescom 2026 already, which is a 15% increase over 2025. The event takes place August 26 \u2013 30 in Cologne, Germany.<\/p>\n

The US Government is discussing whether Tencent can maintain its ownership and investments in Us game companies, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. A meeting of cabinet officials on the matter was scheduled for this week, but was postponed due to scheduling issues, the newspaper said. Tencent\u2019s US investments include an ownership of League of Legends developer Riot Games and a 28% stake on Epic Games. It also owns international companies like Supercell that have a large US audience.<\/p>\n

The Sims 4 is adding a user-generated marketplace and creator platform. The platform launches on March 17. Creators earn money via virtual currency called Moola, receiving a 30% revenue share. According to Lucy James on today\u2019s edition of The Game Business Show, fans are not happy.<\/p>\n

The Pok\u00e9mon Company has announced the next Pok\u00e9mon generation: Winds and Waves. The new games are exclusive for Nintendo Switch 2, but they\u2019re not arriving until 2027. It\u2019s the longest gap between Pok\u00e9mon generations since the series began 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

Splash Damage has acquired Gamepires from Runescape developer Jagex. Gamepires is behind the cult hardcore survival game Scum. The deal is part of an effort to combine Splash Damage\u2019s multiplayer and first-person shooter expertise with Gamepires\u2019 open world survival and live service capabilities. Scum is a popular game, but sits outside of Jagex\u2019s core Runescape focus.<\/p>\n

Insomnia Gaming Festival, which was due to take place in April, has been cancelled due to \u201creduced investment in live events from major tech and hardware brands\u201d. Insomnia ceased in 2024, but was resurrected for a 2026 event under a new consortium of companies, But it hasn\u2019t worked out.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it for today! We\u2019ll be back Monday with The Game Business Micro (paid subscribers only). Until then, thank you for reading. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen now on Apple, Spotify or YouTube In This Edition– How Resident Evil Requiem did it – AI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-517319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}