Resident Evil 2 Remake Sales Pass Five Million and the Original Game

This week, the news is all about Resident Evil. Yesterday's official unveiling of the Resident Evil 3 remake already has fans excited for 2020, but the game's 2019 predecessor is making headlines for a different reason, today. According to Capcom, the remake of Resident Evil 2 has just crossed a huge sales milestone with 5 million copies sold worldwide! This would be impressive enough on its own, but the game has now officially outsold the original version of Resident Evil 2. That particular version moved 4.96 million copies across the various platforms it was released on, including PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and GameCube.

Released in 1998, Resident Evil 2 (arguably) put the franchise on the map. While the first game in the series kept things mostly contained to the area in and around Spencer Mansion, the second game greatly expanded the scope, as the T-Virus outbreak spread to Raccoon City. With two brand-new protagonists in the form of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, the game truly set the stage for the franchise moving forward. Leon would go on to become one of the franchise's biggest stars, while the outbreak in Raccoon City would not only play a role in Resident Evil 3, but in the film series, as well.

The 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 took some of the original game's most cherished elements, while adding modern improvements. The controversial "tank" controls were replaced by Resident Evil 4's much-lauded control system, and the Ink Ribbon Save System was moved exclusively to the game's Hard mode. The game has been nominated for numerous awards this year, including Game of the Year, at The Game Awards 2019. Fans will be able to find out if Resident Evil 2 ends up with the award when the show airs tomorrow night.

The remake's 5 million sales mark was reached as of the start of December. With many retailers discounting the game for Black Friday, it's likely that the holiday push proved some benefit to the title. Of course, the game was also very well reviewed, which also surely helped.

Resident Evil 2 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows. Were you one of the five million players that purchased Resident Evil 2? Are you looking forward to the remake of Resident Evil 3? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!