Resident Evil 7 Flopped On iOS, So What Went Wrong?

Capcom's Resident Evil 7 release on iOS has, quite frankly, flopped, with only around 50,000 users downloading the game since release. The situation is made even worse when you consider that those downloads have only translated to about $28,000 dollars in revenue, according to AppMagic - MobileGamer.Biz did the math, and that adds up to under 2,000 paying users.

So, what went wrong with Resident Evil 7's iOS release? After all, the game's release on mobile definitely has an audience, albeit a small one. If you don't own a PC or a console, but you do have an iPhone, and you've been waiting since Resident Evil 7 was released back in 2017 to play it... then this release is probably pretty exciting. But apparently, not very many actually people fall into that group, given the game's low downloads and sales.

"I personally don't know anybody clamoring to play horror games on mobile," one fan on Reddit pointed out, garnering over 250 upvotes.

Other fans pointed out that most fans who can afford a flagship iPhone can likely also afford a console or gaming PC, which usually offers players a bigger screen, better graphics, and more efficient controls. (Keyboard/mouse support isn't supported on the mobile version, so you're stuck using a controller or built-in touch controls.) It's worth noting that you'll need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Pro, or iPad Air to play the game - in other words, some of the newest Apple devices on the market.

It seems pretty clear that the issue with Resident Evil 7 on iOS is that Apple's phones simply aren't the best platform for it. The problem certainly doesn't seem to be in the game's quality itself - though RE7 hasn't sold well on iOS, those who have tried it have called it the "best Capcom port yet," and it's earned a score of 4.8 on the Apple App Store. That's not to mention that Resident Evil 7 is the second-best selling Resident Evil game of all time, with Capcom shipping a whopping 13.3 million copies.

So, if RE7 on mobile is a good port, what could Capcom have done differently? Arguably, they should've just skipped the Resident Evil 7 mobile port altogether and instead have focused on bringing other series to mobile that are more suited for the platform. For example, Marvel vs Capcom could make a pretty great title for iOS, bringing tons of iconic Capcom and Marvel characters right into the hands of players. Street Fighter, too, could benefit from a new mobile port to revitalize the franchise and could even implement a gacha system. Both games lend themselves to mobile gameplay much more than RE, and could lead to some interesting gameplay.

Resident Evil 7 is a great game, and Capcom has made some pretty awesome mobile ports in the past (looking at you, Ace Attorney) - but the title's recently failure on iOS proves that the two just don't mix.