In somewhat of a surprise, Resident Evil Village becomes one of Twitch’s most viewed games in a record month for the platform. Resident Evil Village launched on May 7th, garnering praise from critics and fans alike. Financial success followed with Resident Evil Village rising to the top of the video game sales charts in the United Kingdom. Recent data shows Resident Evil Village is already the second best-selling game of 2021, only behind Black Ops Cold War.
The draw of Resident Evil Village was built around the main antagonist Lady Dimitrescu, capturing the interest of both long-time and new fans of the Resident Evil series, providing a new and unique main boss into the franchise. It is unknown if the character is the main driver behind internet curiosity and box office success of the title. However, it is clear Lady Dimitrescu has played a role in driving attention to the game on multiple platforms.
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According to Stream Elements’ State of the Stream for May 2021 report Resident Evil Village made its debut as the 10th most-watched game on Twitch for the month. The 48 million hours watched made Resident Evil Village the only single-player game to make the list. Grand Theft Auto V topped the list of playable titles accounting for 250 million of the 2.2 billion hours streamed on Twitch for the month. Game Industry Biz adds that the number is up 37% over last year at the same time, accounting for a massive increase in hours spent on the platform.
While Resident Evil Village came short of surpassing titles like Apex Legends (61 million hours), Minecraft (72 million hours), and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (73 million hours), the accomplishment cannot be overstated for what it means for the Resident Evil franchise. If fans continue to consume the game at this rate, a slew of Resident Evil DLC could come soon, as the game continues to be supported.
Despite the attention paid to multiplayer games, especially first-person shooters due to their prevalence in esports, single-player games remain a popular attraction on streaming platforms like Twitch. Resident Evil Village finding success this soon is likely a great sign for the future of the Resident Evil franchise as it continues to move in a slightly different direction. Without spoiling the narrative, the popularity of Lady Dimitrescu in conjunction with the buzz around the game means remnants of that character are likely to appear in future installments of the Resident Evil franchise in the near future.
Source: Stream Elements, Game Industry Biz
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