Resident Evil 4 Remake’s iOS release, a cornerstone of the recent iPhone 15 reveal, has now been confirmed to be a fully priced game, taking on a console-level price tag for (hopefully) console quality.
The iPhone 15 reveal was a major showcase which had one surprise addition - the reveal that major AAA, graphically intensive releases such as Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, Resident Evil 4 Remake and more would soon be making their way to mobile on the new phone.
It marks what could be a major turning point in how we treat gaming on smartphones, and also raises an important question for many: How much will it set them back to enjoy new console titles on the go?
Resident Evil 4 Remake for iOS will be priced at $59.99, the same as the retail version for console and PC (without any discounts based on storefront, of course). The additional DLC to upgrade to the deluxe version is also priced at a further $19.99, the same as on other stores. It suggests that not only are Capcom and Apple confident in their tech delivering the same experience as console and PC, but that they think players should pay the same price for that quality too.
Litmus for console
In the past, some players have believed that smartphone versions of games, even those released in virtually the same state as consoles, have been "lesser" versions. Alien Isolation by Feral Interactive for example, despite being a huge technical achievement in and of itself, was still priced far lower than its console or PC version at only $14.99.
However, clearly Capcom is keen to buck this trend by offering a demo version initially, with the full game unlocked via the $59.99 in-app purchase. Some readers who’ve been in the industry, or those who remember the early days of iPad and iPhone gaming, will be quite familiar with the idea of a "lite" version that players can get hands-on with before purchasing the full game.
For a story-based title like Resident Evil 4 Remake it’s unclear just what that lite version would entail. Whether a simple sampler of the main story, a demo like the now very famous "bingo" one or perhaps another game mode such as Mercenaries that lets players see performance and grapple with controls before purchasing.
Whatever the case, how the game performs in both the technical and sales sense will be a key indicator of whether this new AAA-to-smartphone model will work.
It's decisions like this that make Capcom one company to watch, rightfully earning a spot in our Top 50 Game Makers list.
