Capcom: Dead Rising 2 Case Zero Breaks Xbox Live Arcade Sales Records

September 9, 2010 9:15 AM

It appears that Capcom's Xbox Live Arcade/Demo experiment has paid off. Today, the publisher revealed that the XBLA-exclusive "prologue experience" Dead Rising 2: Case Zero has "broken all records on Xbox Live" selling more units in one week than "all content" distributed in the downloadable platform's history.

According to GamerBytes, more than 320,000 users were found on the Dead Rising 2: Case Zero leaderboards seven days after the game launched. According to their estimate, Capcom could have raked roughly $1.15 million for the downloadable prequel. Of course, Capcom insists that "these are NOT official numbers."

However, the last title to tout XBLA record breaking numbers was Microsoft's own Shadow Complex. In August 2009, Microsoft revealed the Chair-developed action-adventure sold "over 200,000 copies" in its first week of release. Shadow Complex was priced at 1200MSP ($15) versus Dead Rising 2: Case Zero's 400MSP ($5) asking price.

With history in mind and the existence of public Xbox Live Arcade leaderboards we think Capcom's "prologue" plan proved to be a worthwhile experiment. It's safe to assume THQ is hoping for similar commercial reaction to its own downloadable tie-in titles.

Now we wait to see if the premium demo's existence will help sales of the retail sequel launching later this month or if the downloadable title will be blamed for giving players too much if the sequel falls below sales expectations.

Xav de Matos

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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GreggD

 reply
September 9, 2010 9:19 AM

I bought it on recommendation from a friend. Previously, I had no interest in Dead Rising 2, because I had been burned so badly by the difficulty of the first game. Now, I have the game pre-ordered. Guess it worked.
- House
  
   reply
  September 9, 2010 10:02 AM
  
  Same for me. The first game never clicked, but I loved Zero, and am now looking forward to the full game.
  - Begawkiness
    
     reply
    September 9, 2010 10:25 AM
    
    If you like this one you should really give the first one another chance, the basic mechanics are pretty much identical save for the weapon combinations replacing the photography mechanic.
    - House
      
       reply
      September 9, 2010 10:55 AM
      
      I know, I'm going to give it another shot at some point.