Capcom’s latest earnings report has settled a question that has stood since the last console generation: which Resident Evil game has actually sold the most copies. The 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 has pulled ahead of Resident Evil 5, ending a run of roughly 15 years in which the 2009 title stood as the franchise’s top seller.
The figures come from Capcom’s first-quarter results for fiscal year 2026, covering the three months to June 30. According to the filing, the Resident Evil 2 remake has now sold 19.75 million copies worldwide, compared with Resident Evil 5’s cumulative total of 19.01 million.
New Numbers From Capcom’s Books
Capcom publishes rolling unit-sales figures for its biggest franchises alongside its quarterly financial statements, and the update released this week showed the Resident Evil 2 remake adding 1.42 million copies in the April-to-June period. That was enough on its own to move the 2019 title past Resident Evil 5’s long-standing mark.
Resident Evil 5 did not appear among the ten best-performing titles in Capcom’s catalogue for the quarter, a list that closed out with Resident Evil 6 at roughly 710,000 units. Capcom does not disclose exact quarterly totals for games outside that top ten, but the omission means Resident Evil 5’s best-case total for the period still falls short of the Resident Evil 2 remake’s new number, closing off any near-term route back to the top.
Key figures from Capcom’s latest report:
- Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019): 19.75 million units — new franchise leader
- Resident Evil 5 (2009): 19.01 million units — previous record holder
- Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023): 16.04 million units
- Resident Evil Requiem (2026): 8.06 million units
- Resident Evil franchise total: more than 213 million units sold since 1996
The Resident Evil 2 remake is now within roughly 250,000 units of becoming the first game in the series to cross 20 million lifetime sales, a mark no other Resident Evil title has reached.
Why Resident Evil 5 Fell Behind
Resident Evil 5 launched in March 2009 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, arriving on the back of Resident Evil 4’s critical reception and pushing the series further toward action-oriented gameplay. Its two-player campaign, pairing series veteran Chris Redfield with newcomer Sheva Alomar, helped drive strong early sales that kept it at the top of Capcom’s charts for years afterward, aided by later ports to newer consoles.
The Resident Evil 2 remake climbed differently. Rather than a single large launch spike, Capcom’s data points to steady, sustained demand across seven years on the market, helped by renewed interest in Leon Kennedy tied to more recent releases such as the Resident Evil 4 remake and Resident Evil Requiem.
Notably, the Resident Evil 4 remake is closing the gap fast. It added 2.43 million units during the same quarter, more than the newly crowned Resident Evil 2 remake managed, bringing its lifetime total to 16.04 million. If that pace holds, the record set this quarter may not last long.
A Franchise Now Ahead of Final Fantasy
Beyond the individual title race, Capcom’s filing confirmed that the Resident Evil series as a whole has sold more than 213 million units since its 1996 debut. That total puts the franchise narrowly ahead of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series, last reported at approximately 212 million units, though Square Enix has yet to publish an updated figure for the same quarter, meaning the gap could shift again once it does. The comparison places Resident Evil behind only Nintendo’s Mario and Pokémon among the best-selling franchises to originate in Japan.
Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry, released on February 27, 2026, and has already reached more than 8 million copies sold, making it one of the fastest-selling titles in the series’ history. Elsewhere in Capcom’s portfolio, Monster Hunter: World has reached 30.45 million units including its Iceborne expansion, Devil May Cry 5 has climbed to 14.24 million after adding 1.29 million copies this quarter, and the newer title Pragmata has sold 2.51 million copies since its April launch.
What It Means for Pakistani Gamers
For players in Pakistan, where import duties and currency movements shape which consoles and discs make economic sense to bring in, the shift matters less as a record and more as a signal of which titles remain worth buying into. Both Resident Evil 2 remake and Resident Evil 5 are available digitally through Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox marketplace, letting local buyers skip the customs costs attached to imported physical copies.
Regional storefront pricing and periodic sales events have made Capcom’s back catalogue a relatively affordable entry point for Pakistan’s expanding base of PC and console players. With Resident Evil Requiem and the upcoming Resident Evil Veronica remake both set for simultaneous worldwide digital release, local players are unlikely to face the release-day delays that once separated Pakistani gamers from international launches.
What Comes Next
Capcom shows no sign of slowing its remake pipeline. At Summer Game Fest in June, the company confirmed Resident Evil Veronica, a remake of the 2000 Dreamcast title Code: Veronica, for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC sometime in 2027, with most industry reporting pointing to the first quarter of that year.
Outside gaming, the franchise is heading toward its widest theatrical push in years. A film adaptation directed by Zach Cregger, known for Barbarian and Weapons, is scheduled to open in cinemas worldwide on September 18, 2026, through Sony’s Columbia Pictures. The film centers on an original story involving a medical courier caught in an outbreak in Raccoon City, rather than adapting the plot of any specific game.
With Resident Evil Requiem still gaining ground and the Resident Evil 4 remake outpacing the new record holder on a quarterly basis, Capcom’s next earnings report could reopen the question of which Resident Evil game sells the most.
Muhammad Ashraf
This will be game changer