The sales spike of Resident Evil was truly unexpected — even Takayuki himself hadn't seen it coming.
To this day, Takayuki could still see numerous articles online discussing the possibility of a real Resident Evil outbreak, as if a biohazard crisis could break out at any moment.
And suddenly, he realized: this was a classic case of a video game breaking out of its niche and into mainstream culture.
And every time that happens, it means a title will receive far more attention than anyone could've predicted.
In his previous life, games like Cyberpunk 2077, Animal Crossing, It Takes Two, and Elden Ring had all experienced similar breakout moments.
And even though some of them didn't live up to expectations, they still achieved massive success thanks to the attention.
Resident Evil was now part of that list.
The licensing department was absolutely thrilled.
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They'd been going through a bit of a dry spell. Licensing revenue was based on how hot a game was at the time — aside from mainstays like Final Fantasy, Mario, and Pokémon, most other titles only enjoyed a brief surge during their launch window before interest dropped off — and so did merchandise sales.
So Resident Evil's sudden explosion in popularity was perfect timing. The licensing team jumped on the opportunity and immediately contacted factories to start printing merchandise.
There were Resident Evil–style tactical vests like Chris's, Jill's signature beret, and even Umbrella-branded umbrella backpacks.
And as soon as these were made, they sold out almost instantly — clear proof that Resident Evil had gone fully mainstream, and more and more people were getting interested in the brand.
Even better — Resident Evil's target audience was working adults, the demographic with the most spending power. And in the U.S., this was especially significant — people were happy to pay for things they loved.
The licensing team kept the momentum going. They rushed to commission collectible figurines and even started preorders with only basic white 3D models — and even then, they received over 100,000 orders.
The licensing division was a bit of a special case. Takayuki didn't fully understand the ins and outs of the department, but he recognized the importance of IP monetization. So he'd had Matsuhashi recruit a team of experienced professionals to run the show.
It was also the only department in the company judged strictly by sales performance. The more they sold, the higher their income — though, of course, quality still had to be maintained. If the products were poorly made, they'd bear the full responsibility.
Opportunities to slap a logo on a hoodie or a thermos and charge three times the price don't come often — so the team worked hard and quickly became the company's top-earning division.
On top of that, film companies started approaching them, hoping to license Resident Evil for a movie adaptation.
They also saw the potential. This kind of story, with its fresh take on horror and viral outbreaks, would make for great cinema.
But Takayuki declined. He was very cautious when it came to adapting games into movies — it was a minefield, and one misstep could ruin everything. So he planned to produce it himself.
After all, he had access to a world-class VFX team, and Resident Evil was exactly the kind of IP that could benefit from heavy special effects.
He had no plans to copy the original Resident Evil movie series from his past life. That series was fine — decent even — but in hindsight, it wasn't exactly groundbreaking.
Luckily, there were plenty of excellent zombie films to draw inspiration from: I Am Legend, World War Z, Shaun of the Dead... these could easily be reworked to fit into the Resident Evil universe with a few tweaks to the setting.
Resident Evil's success had now drawn attention from beyond the gaming industry.
Not just among everyday people — even the U.S. government had taken notice.
After all, when a piece of entertainment media has that much influence on society, it's not something to be ignored.
And they had already gotten dragged into the chaos once — and that was without an actual biohazard outbreak. If anything real had happened, public reaction would've been much worse.
For just the first game in the series, Resident Evil had already earned a huge amount of buzz. And everyone who played it — aside from the naturally faint-hearted — had nothing but praise.
The game's pacing and puzzle mechanics were masterfully done. It was easy to binge the entire game in one go. It wasn't too long either — most people could finish it in 10 to 20 hours, which was perfect for newcomers.
And once they finished the game, they were left wanting more.
And now that they owned the console, they weren't about to let it gather dust. Conveniently, several of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's titles were on sale.
Buying from the online store gave even steeper discounts.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, for example, was available for just $20 — a great deal for such a rich and replayable game. Even some third-party games with 3.5-star ratings were selling for as little as $5–6.
These new users didn't hesitate. They snapped up several digital titles in one go, giving previously stagnant games a surprising sales boost.
Third-party developers were stunned — the post-sale numbers rivaled the games' original launch week.
They quickly realized that digital sales had serious potential, and began offering even deeper discounts on their back catalogs.
Many of these games, released a year or two ago, weren't worth much anymore — but for new gamers, they were cheap and fun, offering incredible value.
The devs made a tidy profit, and players got great deals — a true win-win.
And as the game that sparked this sudden breakout, Resident Evil was now on track for a sequel.
Players were already clamoring for Resident Evil 2.
The first game had ended with clear signs that even greater threats awaited. So now everyone was demanding the sequel immediately.
"Just make it! I don't care how good it is — I'll buy it!"
Sometimes, players' desire to see the story continue outweighed their interest in gameplay.
Faced with all this hype, even Takayuki felt a bit guilty delaying things — so he told Hideyuki Uchiyama to start development immediately.
Takayuki also began drafting a lore document to help players better understand the world of Resident Evil and become more emotionally invested in the series.