Capcom’s latest entrant to its popular Resident Evil franchise is currently being played in VR by almost 10% of its players, according to global statistics from the developer.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is Capcom’s long awaited sequel to the company’s hugely popular survival horror franchise and it’s been warmly received by fans and critics since its release last week. With the game’s latest iteration, Capcom took the bold decision to not only build in PlayStation VR support for the game, but also allow gamers to play the title from beginning to end inside VR.

So how popular is that PSVR support proving amongst players? Thanks to daily global statistics provided by Capcom via its RE:7 website, it looks as if VR support is proving to be quite a hit. Stats provided for today are currently showing 9.52% (some 81,000 in all) of Resident Evil 7 players who agreed to share data with Capcom’s website, are bravely navigating the title inside PlayStation VR, an impressive figure when you take into consideration both the low penetration of VR into home markets around the world and the huge player base for the series.

resident-evil-7-biohardard-vr-psvr-statsOf course, it’s difficult to be sure precisely what is counted towards these statistics. Note too that only players who agreed to opt to share data with Capcom when beginning the game will count towards the stats. Is the counter incremented if a player dons the headset for a few minutes before continuing using a conventional TV or is it based on playtime percentage per medium? These things are not clear, but we’re inclined still be be extremely heartened by the figure. According to Destructoid, RE7 shipped 2,5 Million copies over the launch period.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is arguably one of the first real opportunities consumer VR has had to prove its allure when stacked against traditional TV gaming on a triple-A title, and it’s clearly been quite a draw for those on the fence over the adoption of VR technology in the home. It’ll be interesting to chart this usage to see if this early enthusiasm tails off as player progress through the game.

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Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.