New data shows that resident Evil 7which was recently ported to iOS devices, was purchased and downloaded by fewer than 2,000 players – another example of how big games fail to thrive on Apple’s powerful portable devices.
Capcom’s fantastic survival horror sequel Resident Evil 7 –originally published in 2017—was released on iOS earlier this month for $20. It is the latest major console game to be released as part of Apple’s continued push to run more AAA titles natively on iPhones and iPads. Last year Resident Evil Village and that Resident Evil 4 New edition on iOS. They were playable and impressive, those were pretty terrible ways to play such great games due to poor performance and lousy touch controls. And gamers seem to agree that these aren’t great versions of these games, as data shows that these ports are likely to flop badly on iOS.
As reported on July 16 MobileGamer.bizThe data seem to indicate that RE7′The iOS port, which launched on July 2, only earned Capcom around $28,000, as 2,000 people paid for the full game after downloading the free demo.
Other AAA iPhone ports were also not very successful in the App Store. As the outlet reported in JuneThe data shows that after one month only 3,000 people had bought Assassin’s Creed Miragealthough the free trial version has been downloaded over 120,000 times.
2023 Resident Evil 4 New edition has a a little better after six months on the market. It has been downloaded 357,000 times and data shows that about 7,000 people have paid the $30 to unlock the full game. Resident Evil Villageperformed terribly on iOS. In about the same time, only about 5,700 people paid $15 to play Village on your iPhone or iPad.
Why AAA games flop on the iPhone
So what’s happening here? Well, I think the higher prices for these AAA ports are turning off a lot of mobile gamers who are used to free-to-play games. But I think the bigger problem 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 is a wonderful return to the stealth-oriented gameplay and smaller worlds of older air conditioner Games that still feel modern and are fun. Good stuff! But I have no desire to play this game on a tiny iPhone with an awkward controller or terrible touchscreen buttons.
These AAA games are designed to be played for hours on end, often in a comfortable chair or on the couch, with a controller or keyboard and a big screen. And that’s just not the experience you get on a phone. The best mobile games are games you just pick up and start playing. Things you can open, have a bit of fun with, and then drop a few seconds later because the bus has arrived or the game has finished installing on the Xbox.
iPhones will certainly become more powerful in the future and will be able to run even more AAA games at high frame rates and resolutions. That’s a fact. But I’m not convinced that any of these games will succeed in the App Store because they’re simply not what most people want to play on their mobile devices.
The question now is how long will it take until Apple stops funding these ports (probably, this hasn’t been confirmed yet) and all these AAA games stop coming to iOS because Capcom and other publishers are no longer making money from these ports. How long will it take until Apple throws in the towel on gaming again? We’ll see…
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