Resident Evil 3 Remake Was Sold For $60 Despite Marketing Concerns

Resident Evil 3 Remake was one of the most divisive games of 2020, the game was criticized by players for its short length and the content that was cut from the original game as well as its 60$ price tag. Now, according to a leaked doc showing slides and presentations during the development of Resident Evil 3 Remake, it appears that even CAPCOM was internally aware of the short length of Resident Evil 3 Remake and were even warned by the Marketing department that the game’s 5 hour length was “very lean for a single-player game” and the marketing team recommended a lower price range, stating that, “Regardless of the original title length, 5-6 hours is very lean for a single-player game – CEE recommends mid-price range”

The marketing team had previously pointed out the game’s short length as well stating, “Much has been spoken about the volume of the single player portion. To verify we’re still looking at around 5 hours for a standard playthrough? Aside from the multiplayer game, are there any replayability modes or features planned for the single player side?”

Despite concerns from the marketing team, the game was still sold for 60$ on all platforms, which possibly proved to be a bad move for CAPCOM considering the game sold considerably less than either Resident Evil 2 Remake or the recent Resident Evil Village. The game has sold a total of 4.6 million units in its lifetime meanwhile Resident Evil 2 Remake has sold around 8 million units and Resident Evil Village has already reached 5 million units in only the span of a few months. 

The documents themselves contain a lot of marketing buzzwords and promotional tactics including mentions of a fake leak spread by CAPCOM themselves that will “antagonize core fan base right from the start”. 

We can assume that this is referring to the massive leak before the game’s official announcement that talked about the game being way more open ended with a larger, explorable version of Raccoon City featuring actual side quests although there is no definite proof that that is the case. Talking about fake and meaningless rumors, following the game’s reception, there have also been an exceptional number of rumors talking about a potential re-release of Resident Evil 3 Remake with addition story content added. 

Resident Evil 3 Remake launched March last year to a mixed reception from players and critics alike. I played the game sometime after launch as well and while I enjoyed the game, the game fell short of the standard set by 2019’s Resident Evil 2 Remake as well as the original that it was supposed to remake. As a remake, Resident Evil 3 Remake is…not good, but as its own thing I’d recommend it for its solid pacing, enjoyable story and bombastic set-pieces. Its a good fun action game that’s definitely not as bad as some might have you believe, especially if you get it at a lower price.