New data shows that Resident Evil 7, which was recently ported to iOS devices, was purchased and downloaded by fewer than 2,000 players, another example of big games failing to take off on Apple‘s powerful handheld devices.
Kotaku participates in Apple’s developer showcase
Capcom’s fantastic survival horror sequel Resident Evil 7 (originally released in 2017) launched on iOS earlier this month for $20. It’s the latest big console game to come to iOS devices as part of Apple’s ongoing push to get more AAA titles to run natively on iPhones and iPads. Last year, Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake came to iOS. While playable and impressive, they were pretty awful ways to play such great games due to poor performance and awful touch controls. And it seems gamers agree that these aren’t great ports of these games, as data shows that these ports are likely failing miserably on iOS.
As MobileGamer.biz reported on July 16, data seems to indicate that the iOS port of RE7, which launched on July 2, has only earned Capcom around $28,000 via 2,000 people who paid for the full game after downloading the free demo.
Other AAA iPhone ports have also not been very successful on the App Store. As the outlet reported in June, data indicates that after one month only 3,000 people had purchased Assassin’s Creed Mirage, despite its free trial version having been downloaded more than 120,000 times.
The 2023 Resident Evil 4 remake fared a bit better after six months on the market. It was downloaded 357,000 times, and data indicates that around 7,000 people paid the $30 to unlock the full game. Resident Evil Village, on the other hand, performed horribly on iOS. In roughly the same time frame, only around 5,700 people paid $15 to play Village on their iPhone or iPad.
Why AAA games fail on the iPhone
So what’s going on here? Well, I think the higher prices for these AAA ports are driving away a lot of mobile gamers who are used to free-to-play games. But I think the bigger issue is that these aren’t the kind of games people want to play on their phones in 2024. I love Assassin’s Creed Mirage. It’s a wonderful return to the stealth-focused gameplay and smaller worlds of older AC games, while still feeling modern and fun to play. What good shit! But I have no desire to play that game on a tiny iPhone with a cumbersome controller attached or via terrible touchscreen buttons.
Capcom / TapGameplay
These AAA games were designed to be played for hours on end, often on a comfy couch or sofa, with a controller or keyboard and a big screen. And that’s not the experience you get on a phone. The best mobile games are the ones you can just play. They’re games you can open, have a little fun with, and then put down a few seconds later because the bus has arrived or the game has finished installing on Xbox.
It’s certain that in the future iPhones will become more powerful and be able to run even more AAA games at high frame rates and resolutions. That’s a given, but I’m not sure any of these games will be successful in the App Store because they’re simply not what most people want to play on their mobile devices.
Now the question is, if Capcom and other publishers aren’t making money from these ports, how long will it be until Apple stops funding them (probably, this hasn’t been confirmed) and all these AAA games stop coming to iOS? How long will it be until Apple throws in the towel once again when it comes to gaming? We’ll see…
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