At a Glance
- Resident Evil: Requiem reportedly sold an estimated 1.3 million PlayStation discs, equal to 30.2% of its PlayStation revenue and 1.8× the revenue from all Xbox versions combined (Eurogamer).
- The disc beat every Xbox version — digital and physical — put together, a striking result for a game also available on Game Pass.
- It lands as Sony keeps narrowing the disc window: a digital-only PS5 in Japan at $350, with the disc drive sold separately for $75.
- The numbers come from estimates by Alinea Analytics (Rhys Elliot), not Capcom’s official ledger — hence “reportedly.”
Physical game discs are supposed to be dying. Sony keeps telling us so — digital-only consoles, separately sold disc drives, a visible push away from ownership. But a fresh batch of sales estimates for Resident Evil: Requiem suggests the disc is far from buried on PlayStation. According to data from Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliot, the game’s PlayStation physical copies alone generated more revenue than every Xbox version of the game combined (Eurogamer).
The headline number
Elliot’s estimates put Resident Evil: Requiem at roughly 1.3 million physical copies sold on PlayStation. That works out to about 30.2% of the game’s PlayStation revenue — and, most strikingly, 1.8× the revenue from all Xbox versions (disc and digital) added together. In plain terms: one region’s disc sales out-grossed the game’s entire footprint on Microsoft’s console.
A franchise that’s everywhere — including Switch 2
The disc story is only half of Resident Evil’s 2026 footprint. Capcom is simultaneously pushing the catalogue onto new hardware. Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 are among the entries debuting on Nintendo Switch 2 (official page), widening the series’ reach well beyond PlayStation — even as the newest mainline entry proves the disc still matters there.
That spread matters for the disc debate: a franchise this multi-platform can afford to treat PlayStation discs as a bonus, yet the bonus is big enough to out-earn a whole rival console’s version of the same game.
Why a disc beat every Xbox version
The result is less about PlayStation loyalty and more about how the two platforms sell.
Xbox leans hard into Game Pass and digital delivery. So a far smaller share of its audience ever buys a disc — or even a full-priced download à la carte.
PlayStation, by contrast, still carries a large disc-buying base. That is especially true in regions where physical ownership is cultural.
Elliot notes discs are “more ingrained in the culture” in Japan. That one market lifts the global average: Alinea estimates Japan buys discs at a near-50% rate, well above the worldwide figure (via Eurogamer).
For a single-player, story-driven game like Requiem, that disc base is pure margin: the copies are printed, shipped, and sold at full price, with none of the recurring-subscription economics that muddy Xbox’s per-copy math.
Sony’s march to a disc-less future
None of this has slowed Sony’s roadmap. The company launched a digital-only PS5 in Japan at $350. The disc drive is sold separately for $75 — part of the discless strategy Sony lays out on its official PlayStation Blog — a deliberate nudge toward digital ownership.
PlayStation founder Ken Kutaragi framed discs as a “metaphor for ‘owning’ games.” He called the backlash a “mentality issue.” Whether or not you share that view, the hardware default is doing the persuading.
| Before the digital push | After the digital push |
|---|---|
| Disc drive included in every console | Disc drive sold separately ($75 add-on) |
| Physical = default purchase for many | Physical = deliberate choice |
| Japan buys discs at a near-50% rate (Alinea via Eurogamer) | Japan nudged toward digital-only SKU |
| Xbox and PS disc markets comparable | PS discs out-earn all Xbox versions |
What it means for PlayStation owners
If you play on PlayStation, the practical takeaways are immediate:
- Disc prices and stock will keep tightening. As physical share falls, retailers discount discs less and Sony has less reason to protect the ecosystem. If you prefer owning games, the window to build a shelf is now.
- “Ownership” becomes a premium feature. A separate $75 drive turns disc support into an upsell — budget for the Drive edition rather than the cheaper digital-only SKU.
- Resale and lending quietly disappear. Digital libraries can’t be sold, shared, or borrowed. The fight over discs is really a fight over what ownership means.
Browse more platform and hardware analysis in our news index, or jump into a free browser game while you decide where your library lives.
The bigger picture
This is one data point in a longer arc. Sony has repeatedly pledged to keep moving away from discs — despite the outrage. The hardware roadmap points the same way: digital-only SKUs, paid disc drives, cloud-first messaging.
The Alinea numbers are a reminder that the disc’s death is a managed decline, not a collapse. It is profitable enough that killing it outright would cost real revenue. Yet it is niche enough that the transition is politically survivable.
For context on where the industry is heading, see our topics hub and the wider game news stream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Resident Evil: Requiem really sell more on PlayStation discs than on all of Xbox?
Answer-first: Yes, by revenue — reportedly. Alinea Analytics estimates the game’s PlayStation physical discs alone generated 1.8× the revenue of every Xbox version (digital and physical) combined. These are third-party estimates, not Capcom’s official figures.
Why are physical game sales still so strong on PlayStation?
Answer-first: Analyst Rhys Elliot attributes it to habit and culture — discs are “more ingrained” in buying behavior, especially in Japan, where physical share lifts global averages even though the country is a small slice of unit sales.
Is Sony really removing disc drives from PlayStation?
Answer-first: Not removing them entirely, but making them optional. The digital-only PS5 launched in Japan at $350 with a $75 disc drive sold separately, part of a broader shift toward digital and cloud delivery that Sony says will continue.
References and Retrieval Notes
- Resident Evil: Requiem made more money from PlayStation discs than on Xbox in total — Eurogamer (Connor Makar), updated Oct. 21, 2026; retrieved 2026-10-21. Source of the Alinea Analytics / Rhys Elliot estimates cited throughout.
- Alinea Analytics — Rhys Elliot newsletter on top PlayStation games by physical copies sold (primary data source, via Eurogamer reporting).
- PlayStation Blog — Sony’s official channel; documents the digital-only PS5 and the separately sold disc drive (independent hardware-strategy source, distinct from the Alinea sales estimates).
- Hero image: Eurogamer / GNW (
assetsio.gnwcdn.com). Gallery images: Capcom / residentevil.com Switch 2 media assets. - Sony interactive entertainment hardware strategy — digital-only PS5 (Japan, $350) and separate $75 disc drive, per Eurogamer.
- Ken Kutaragi (PlayStation founder) remarks on discs as a metaphor for “owning” games — via Eurogamer.
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