Capcom announces that Resident Evil 7 has shipped a total of 3 million units worldwide and also discusses the box office success of the Resident Evil film franchise.

Releasing to critical acclaim and shipping 2.5 million units in its first week on sale, Resident Evil 7 has been a successful venture for Capcom in a number of ways. The game's success has continued two weeks since launch, with Capcom shipping 500,000 more copies of the game to retailers worldwide, bringing the total number of copies of Resident Evil 7 out in the wild up to 3 million.

Capcom revealed these updated numbers in a recent press release that highlighted strong numbers for not only Resident Evil 7, but the recently released film Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Even though Resident Evil: The Final Chapter has earned poor reviews from critics, it has passed $120 million at the worldwide box office, more than tripling its production budget in the process. The success of the film has cemented Resident Evil as the highest grossing game-to-film adaptation series of all time, pushing the franchise's total box office gross over the $1 billion mark.

These numbers are impressive for sure, but it's worth noting that they aren't necessarily as strong as Capcom was hoping. For example, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, while still a box office success, had the weakest debut of any other film in the series. Resident Evil 7, meanwhile, has failed to match the initial shipping numbers of its predecessors, with Resident Evil 5 and 6 shipping 4 and 4.5 million copies in their first weeks respectively.

Resident Evil 7 is still a success, though Capcom's shares fell when it became apparent that the game wasn't going to be quite as popular as the previous games in the series. There are a number of possible explanations as to why Resident Evil 7 hasn't shipped as many copies as the games that came before it. Perhaps consumers were skeptical about its switch to a first-person viewpoint and focus on horror over action. Alternatively, the poor critical reception of Resident Evil 6 may have made some fans lose faith in the Resident Evil brand.

While it may not have had as strong of a launch week as Resident Evil 5 or 6, Resident Evil 7 still has a chance to meet Capcom's expectations. In an investors report last quarter, Capcom said that it expected Resident Evil 7 to ship 4 million units by the end of the fiscal year, which is March 31st. That gives Capcom about a month and a half to ship 1 million more copies of Resident Evil 7 to retailers, a goal that is still feasible at this point.

Resident Evil 7 has proven to be a popular game so far, and as Capcom releases more content for it, it could convince reluctant gamers to finally buy the game. Capcom has already released some Stephen King-inspired DLC for Resident Evil 7, and there's even more paid DLC on the way, in addition to a free story expansion that promises to have huge ramifications for Resident Evil lore. While it's hard to say definitively, new content like that could be enough to convince those burned by Resident Evil 6 to give Resident Evil 7 a chance.

Resident Evil 7 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.