1.8 Million Downloads of Resident Evil 5 Demo

Kris Erickson • Feb 3, 2009 • Comments ()

The video game industry is divided on the question of whether releasing a demo helps or hurts the sale of a completed title. On one hand, if the demo is experience is good, it can help build hype and word-of mouth for an upcoming release that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Many gamers will pick up a demo -- especially if it is free -- simply out of curiosity. On the other hand, if the demo is not enticing enough or if it offers too much content up front, it could hurt eventual sales of the completed game. Releasing a demo version of a game takes a lot of effort on the part of developers and publishers, so it is no wonder that many companies simply forgo the process altogether.

Capcom’s efforts to release a demo of the hotly-anticipated Resident Evil 5 appear to have paid off, however. Over the weekend, download figures for the Resident Evil 5 Demo on Xbox LIVE surged past 1.8 million, making it one of the most popular downloads ever on Xbox Live.

These statistics are especially impressive, considering that the demo was only available exclusively to Xbox LIVE Gold members for the first three days of its release. In Japan, the demo also proved very popular; more than 53% of all Xbox live members in Japan downloaded it (all 500 of them, zing!).

The overall success of the Resident Evil 5 demo is difficult to judge by these download figures alone. Many gamers immediately balked at the control scheme in the game, which some found sluggish and awkward. Capcom has since assured players that a “Run and Gun” control setup will be available in the final build.

The demo has definitely made a big splash, but we will have to wait until the game’s official release on March 13th to find out if all of these downloads will translate into sales. We will definitely be there on day one, so check back with Gameflavor for our full review.

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