Online experiences are crucial in gaining new fans and making games popular

Jan 23, 2012 19:21 GMT  ·  By

Capcom, the owner of the Resident Evil series, has confirmed that it has experienced bigger sales and attracted lots of new fans once the franchise made a move towards more action-filled experiences, instead of the traditional survival horror ones.

The Resident Evil series is set to receive three major installments this year, in the form of Resident Evil: Revelations later this month, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City in March, and the recently announced Resident Evil 6, in November.

Shortly before the announcement of the latest game, Capcom’s UK Head of Marketing, Dave Turner, talked with MCV about the change of strategy for the Resident Evil franchise. He said that, while some fans didn’t exactly approve of the more action-oriented experience that was Resident Evil 5, the game became much more popular than other, more traditional titles in the series.

"We've seen the popularity of Resident Evil increase massively as the series became more action oriented - Resident Evil 5 is the biggest seller in the series. So, it makes sense for us to follow this action area more fully," the Capcom executive revealed.

Turner also confirmed that his company’s biggest achievement with the upcoming Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, which is a tactical shooter, would be to attract the millions of Call of Duty fans to its online mode.

"The dream would be that the millions of Call of Duty fans that are enjoying these fast-paced online games are attracted to this Resident Evil," Turner said about Operation Raccoon City.

The online modes in the upcoming Resident Evil game were showcased earlier this month through a special video and impressed quite a lot of people. They included some traditional ones, like Team Deathmatch, and special ones centered around Resident Evil’s zombie theme, not to mention the special Heroes mode.

For Resident Evil 6, Capcom has already confirmed that it will try to deliver a “dramatic horror” experience, meaning that it will blend both action and survival themes to attract old and new fans.