Resident Evil: Requiem Reportedly Made More Money From PlayStation Discs Than Xbox Overall, As Sony’s March Toward A Discless Future Continues

Physical disc copies of Resident Evil: Requiem on PlayStation consoles may have been more popular than any version of the game on Xbox, according to a new report, while also unearthing a trove of other physical sales statistics.

The information comes from Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot, who published a newsletter showcasing the best PlayStation games by physical copies sold. According to Elliot’s estimates, Resident Evil: Requiem has sold 1.3 million physical copies, representing 15% of the game’s total revenue and 30.2% of its PlayStation revenue. Physical copies generated 1.8 times more revenue on PlayStation than all copies sold – digital and physical – on Xbox, the newsletter reports.

Meanwhile, physical sales of 007 First Light, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, and Crimson Desert are all below 30% of their relevant totals, according to this report. This makes physical sales a minority, but if the numbers are accurate, it proves that they still represent a significant portion of the total revenue for these single-player games. Wolverine, another example Rhys uses, appears to owe 800,000 of its 2.6 million sales to physical copies, as well as almost a third of its total revenue.

In Japan, support for physical game sales is even stronger. First-party, Japan-centric PlayStation games, such as Capcom versions, tend to sell more physical copies there. that a larger share of its total sales is physical than other types of games.

Elliot supposes it’s because physical games are more “culturally ingrained” there. For example, 44 percent of copies of Pragmata sold were physical, and 44.1 percent of sales of Onimusha: Way of the Sword were also physical. With Japan responsible for 12 percent of Onimusha’s sales and 11 percent of Pragmata’s, the country’s purchasing habits are enough to have a substantial impact on global statistics.

It is in this context that the new digital-only and Japan-exclusive PS5 Black was launched in Japan, for $350, with a separate disc drive selling for $75. Elliot interprets this as an attempt to “push” Japanese users into purchasing games digitally.

However, while physical sales of single-player games appear healthy, the situation is different for sports games. The best-selling game currently on PlayStation, FC 27, owes only 8.9% of its sales to the physical game. Yet, as Elliot points out, the relative popularity of physical games on PlayStation is likely a key part of the backlash Sony faced in its decision to go digital.

Just Monday, PlayStation founder Ken Kutaragi said the discs had become a “metaphor for game ownership” and that discontent over their discontinuation was likely a “mindset issue.” Sony has also pledged to continue its plans to abandon the discs despite the resulting outrage.