Devil May Cry 4 sells 2 million

  • By Dan Chiappini, Tor Thorsen, GameSpot AU
  • Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:35 am GMT

Capcom's decision to take its demonic action game multiplatform pays off as it becomes the series' fastest-selling installment yet.

When Capcom announced Devil May Cry 4 was going multiplatform last year, PlayStation loyalists decried the move as a betrayal. Since its launch in 2001 with the original Devil May Cry, the franchise had only appeared on the PlayStation 2 with the fourth installment originally announced as a PS3 exclusive.

However, the Japanese's publisher's decision to release its demon-slaying game on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 has paid off. Today, Capcom announced that since its release in the US and Europe earlier this month and in Japan in January, Devil May Cry 4 has sold over 2 million units worldwide.

DMC4's rapid success makes the game the fastest-selling installment in the seven-year-old series. It also accounts for just under a quarter of the entire franchise's total of 9 million units in sales, according to Capcom. The well-reviewed game's haul is also poised to increase later this year, when DMC4 is released on the PC.

254 Comments

  • zhao4

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 3:15 pm GMT

    yeah multi platform was a good idea, for pc gamers like me this is much apreciatted

  • huntakillaa

    Posted Apr 23, 2008 8:01 pm GMT

    thekodaman;

    "some using technology ahead of our time (PS3)"

    PS3?! Technology ahead of our time?! Don't make me laugh! If anything, the Wii is the one using technology ahead of our time.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Mar 12, 2008 7:43 am GMT

    Bringing DMC4 t othe x360 was a great decision!

  • thekodaman

    Posted Mar 11, 2008 11:45 am GMT

    darkflame202113,

    That is why the developers keep saying they want one platform to develop for because at the end of the day it's just not profitable to develop three versions of a game for systems with entirely different architectures, some using technology ahead of our time (PS3), current technology (360) or older technology (Wii). That's actually why some developers prefer developing PC games because although they have to make sure the game scales well from low-to-high end PCs they also know that all PCs have similar architecture (asides from Macs).

  • AbyssD

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 10:20 pm GMT

    yeah best game ever made 10/10 like this games they shud make like God Of War 3 thats gona be CRAZY

  • darkflame202113

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 6:42 pm GMT

    That right, the company should make their game for everybody to enjoy. Just think how many copy of Halo 3 and MGS4 will sold, if they go muti-platform.

  • Virtual_Erkan

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 1:36 am GMT

    I was shocked to hear that DMC4 will be also on Xbox 360 last year. And now I can see it is true once I started to play on my 360.

  • FrznSnoman

    Posted Feb 24, 2008 9:47 pm GMT

    Hokkie is wrong about the PS3 being a lower grade Blu-Ray player.
    It is actually one of the best, because it can update via online.
    ( And it can play games + more)
    Hokkie obviously doesn't own a PS3 to know about it.

    If you don't know about a system, let's not talk crap about.

  • sdwhitby

    Posted Feb 23, 2008 12:26 pm GMT

    shuold be getting this game tomorrow

  • Hokkie

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 4:59 pm GMT

    just becuase people are buying the PS3 for a lower grade Blu-Ray doesnt mean they use it for games also.

  • GrimBee

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 2:23 am GMT

    You know whats cool - I played the first game a few months after it being released on PS2. I thought it was really awesome at the time (it still holds its own today).
    The second game.. I played it for an hour and didn't like it. Lets just say I was too bothered with other games and consoles by the time the 3rd one came out.

    The 4th one is really, REALLY good. Not only does it match the excitement that the original brought to me, but it is a genuinely good game aswell, and the cinematics are totally brilliant.

    This game, basically, just told everyone that THESE are the new consoles for gaming, and its brought new light to the series. THAT is what is cool And the sales also tell developers this too.
    Its unfortunate that games like Gears 2 and Mgs4 won't be multiplatform...

    My main reason for hating titles not being multiplatform is because I like talking to mates about games that I like. And if I say "ah, Dead Rising was good, but it was pretty hard and tedious.." some of them say "nah, not going to play it - its on xbox, don't like xbox..".

    When will developers realise that some people just don't buy a console for the features, they buy it purely because they are used to that name, prefer the pad, like how it looks near their TV...
    Thats perfectly OK, but those people who buy one console and just give un-wanted bias against it are just doing themselves a disservice!!

    Everybody's DVD player is different (on the whole) but they may play the same kind of films etc as you. Its just their choice to have that particular DVD player.
    Wouldn't it be nice if you could just buy a console, and only have to worry about what features you want for the money rather than which games will be coming out for it.

    The reason why hddvd players didn't sell so well was because people were worried about it being obsolete. Luckily, that "war" is over and now consumers can get a proper service.
    Its a bad day when you have to have two kinds of players to play hd movies that you like. Not everyone likes disney.. someone may want a bit of the terminator, if one was on HDDVD and one was on Blu-ray, its just stupid. (its over now... calm.. down )


    I mean, I have all three next gen consoles (I will put pics up in my profile today and a little review of them so far). Each of them bleed with their own quality, sometimes I play one more than the other - but because I am open minded --- I GET TO ENJOY ALOT MORE GAMES!!

    If more people were open minded rather than say things like "pff, I hate xbot, you gotz to put batteriez in da padz?!" then they would definitely be enjoying alot more games.

    I have them because I like all kinds of games and exclusives, it would be nice to have one beefy console that can play everything (even the wii remote stuff) instead of having to buy three seperate consoles.

    But because each console brings out cool stuff (xbox live is great, and because its in competition with sony - you get to see more cool stuff).

    Competition brings the best out in consoles because the manufacturers want to keep things exciting and fresh.
    Would commodore 64 games come onto the wii if they were selling loads of them on xbox live ?
    The wii will bring more VC content to the table if microsoft up the ante with the xbox live arcade, and then you will see more online stuff from the sony store to counteract.

    Its a complicated thing, where microsoft will buy out franchise exclusives (even temporary ones) sony will up the interest in their blu-ray films, nintendo will then release some new fangled accessory for the wii which brings in even more sales..

    So, to end my comment, although I hate having to choose which console to buy and what games to look for for each seperate one, the industry would be pretty boring without a bit of healthy competition.

    Its a shame that some people are so "in love" with their console BRAND that they will just diss the competiton, no matter what good stuff it comes out with.
    This, unfortunately, lets them miss out on some quality stuff.

    You wouldn't not go see indiana jones 4 if it was only exclusive to ODEON cinemas, right? Some people like the VUE cinema, some like ODEON, but you wouldn't just not see a film you really want to see because of the brand of cinema....

    ..right?

    I couldn't imagine this generation without mario galaxy, gears of war, MGS4.

  • Diernes

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 6:25 pm GMT

    Seriously who cares about exclusives. Developers realise that they cant really afford to do it in this day and age. I am glad more titles are going multi.

    DMC4 was great, maybe not as good as the first and third game, but its a very worthy sequel.

    Tekken 6, on 360 next please then i wont have to buy a PS3....

  • fmprodguy

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:34 pm GMT

    WORLD Charts, top 10 ending the week of the 8th

    1 Devil May Cry 4 (360)
    Capcom 2 428,725 471,642

    2 Wii Sports
    Nintendo 64 378,276 18,945,630

    3 Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
    Capcom 2 346,193 555,030

    4 Super Smash Bros Brawl
    Nintendo 2 300,938 1,143,474

    5 Wii Play Nintendo 63 196,300 9,947,941

    6 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
    Nintendo 4 152,991 434,372

    7 Turok Disney 2 126,935 186,244 (360)

    8 Super Mario Galaxy Nintendo 15 117,815 5,688,402

    9 Turok Disney 2 105,698 139,600 (PS3)

    10 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Activision 14 103,369 4,723,919

  • fmprodguy

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:30 pm GMT

    WORLD Charts, top 10 ending the week of the 15th

    1 Devil May Cry 4 (360)
    Capcom 3 203,503 675,145

    2 Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
    Capcom 3 157,370 712,400

    3 Wii Sports
    Nintendo 65 156,645 19,102,275

    4 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
    Sega 5 141,686 576,058

    5 Wii Play
    Nintendo 64 107,650 10,055,591

    6 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
    Activision 15 101,400 4,825,319

    7 Lost Odyssey Microsoft 11 101,277 196,739

    8 More Brain Training
    Nintendo 112 98,541 10,039,790

    9 Brain Training
    Nintendo 144 85,120 11,853,555

    10 Turok (360)
    Disney 3 84,376 270,620

  • fmprodguy

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:25 pm GMT

    American Charts, top 10 ending the 9th:
    1 Devil May Cry 4 (360)
    Capcom 1 337,539 337,539
    2 Wii Sports
    Nintendo 64 216,466 9,315,398 3 Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
    Capcom 1 195,872 195,872
    4 Wii Play
    Nintendo 52 113,012 4,762,980
    5 Turok (360)
    Touchstone 2 82,410 141,719
    6 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
    Activision 14 74,256 3,258,458
    7 Super Mario Galaxy
    Nintendo 13 72,646 3,082,316
    8 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii)
    Activision 15 65,942 1,490,810
    9 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2)
    Activision 15 64,698 2,977,152
    10 Link's Crossbow Training
    Nintendo 12 55,513 865,569

  • fmprodguy

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:20 pm GMT

    American Charts, top 10 ending the 19th:
    1 Devil May Cry 4 (360)
    Capcom 2 148,203 485,742
    2 Lost Odyssey Microsoft 1 101,277 101,277
    3 Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
    Capcom 2 85,424 281,296
    4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
    Activision 15 76,362 3,334,820
    5 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2)
    Activision 16 59,059 3,036,211
    6 Wii Play Nintendo 53 53,361 4,816,341
    7 Turok (360)
    Touchstone 3 49,005 190,724
    8 Wii Sports Nintendo 65 47,702 9,363,100
    9 Rock Band (360)
    EA 13 45,104 901,351
    10 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360)
    Activision 16 43,421 1,963,055

  • Storm_Marine

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 10:39 am GMT

    I bet Capcom are glad they made it multiplatform.

  • thecakeisalie47

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 10:26 am GMT

    This is a great game, one of my favorite series. I love coming home just to fire up some DMC4 on my PS3. Good times!

  • superbeast1370

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 1:22 am GMT

    wait a minute, I thought capcom "shipped" 2 million copies of DMC4.

  • Joshua250

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:24 am GMT

    Judging from the reviews and videos it's no wonder why this game sold so fast.

  • FaiThFul066

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 12:01 am GMT

    Love DMC but still need to get the 4th one

  • LOWJ000

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 10:03 pm GMT

    I'd like to see an interview now with the people who were petitioning to get Devil May Cry exclusive to the PS3 after the multiplatform announcement. They said they were going to boycott the game, I'd sure like to know how that went.

  • living_wmd_888

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:45 pm GMT

    DMC 4 is an awesome game. The best games still come from Japan.

  • AvIdGaMeR444

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:44 pm GMT

    The game is selling better on PS3 I bet. Cows are starved for good games.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:39 pm GMT

    Vary nice, The game was fun, I know I liked it

  • LittleYoshi

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:04 pm GMT

    peacenutman: "I bet over 50% of those sold are on the PS3 version, well at least that's what I saw from stores that PS3 version always has less copies than X360."

    Only if the MS (360) games are port to the PS3 first...if not then deal off!
    Anyways they won't do it....port all games to all the systems...they'll lose money on people buying differents platform systems.

  • Itsthetruth

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:00 pm GMT

    If i was the onwer of a publisher and was protecting my investment i'd never expect to sell a game just in the x360 or just in the Ps3. The hardwares are not that different, it is clearly a safer bet to sell on both.

    I'm happy for Capcom, they're a great company and we'll sure get games back from their profits.

  • LittleYoshi

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:56 pm GMT

    PC? ......ugh great

  • edhc44

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:20 pm GMT

    Mine is on the way!! XD

    And how about those 10k people or so who signed an online petition to Capcom keep the game a PS3-exclusive now, eh?

  • LastRedMage

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 6:48 pm GMT

    i wish it stayed exclusive but it is a good game and it deserves it

  • Homerj

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 6:38 pm GMT

    And to those asking about relative version sales, the most recent numbers I have seen on vgchartz is 680k on the 360 and 720k on the PS3 (a little outdated by the numbers given by Capcom, but illustrative of the general trends). PS3 outsold 360 in Japan by about 4:1, while the 360 outsold PS3 in the NA market by about 2:1 pretty much right in line with the relative install base percentages in each region. I'm just glad to see a terrific game getting great sales and specifically happy that 360 owners are properly rewarding Capcom for another job well done.

  • Homerj

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 6:08 pm GMT

    @recce5
    I have to disaggree with your assessment of "double development costs" for multiplatform games. DMC4 is the perfect model for how multiplatform dev should be done. The original engine for DMC4 was developed for the 360 for Lost Planet. The Snowblind engine was improved and ported to the PS3 (originally because of plans to port over LP). The actual game assets were developed on the native PS3 Snowblind engine, but were then ported directly to an improved version the native 360 engine (actually developed primarily for the follow up to LP). Game assets were developed ONCE, only the porting and optimization of the game engine on specific consoles was redundant. Despite all the SFB crap spouted by IGN, this is exactly how Burnout Paradise was developed as well.
    As far as revenue from exclusivity contracts, these are already very limited on the 360 side, since it has majority market share....only very high level games get any consideration for exclusivity deals. While big exclusivity deals were assured last year due to Sony's desperation to get any kind of exclusive onto its console, now that some of their big exclusives are maturing and nearing release, this is bound to dry up as well.

  • BXSENTINEL

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 5:53 pm GMT

    captain i dont dispute that one bit, but look how many go saying ps3 sucks or xbox 360 sucks, no ask yourself this question does that really help any body in this industry. no it dosent, and funny thing i do remember kojima saying it is technically possible if they really wanted to.... we have all seen things done when they said it couldnt be done!

  • CaptainHerlock

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 5:49 pm GMT

    BX, it's not a matter of letting people enjoy the series. Hideo Kojima has repeatedly stated that he feels the Playstation 3 is the only console capable of delivering the game that he envisions. That's why he wants to keep the game exclusive. If people still want to play Metal Gear Solid 4 then they are going to have to pony up the cash to buy a PS3. If they don't, then I guess they don't want to play it that badly do they.

  • BXSENTINEL

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 5:46 pm GMT

    i own a ps3 myself and have always been a sony fan but i agree with the fact that no game should be exclusive to any one system. I do not own a xbox 360 nor do i plan on getting one but i do respect it as a system with some good games and i think any games that are coming for the ps3 should go to xbox as well. in the end it good for everyone. and yes that includes the great metal gear solid 4. konami will only stand to make millions more and everyone gets to appreciate a great game ;so to all you sony fans who can find nothing better that insult other platforms i say what are worried about if mgs4 goes multi platform will that take away any enjoyment from the game. are you not going to buy it cause xbox 360 gets a port? if your answer is yes then you need to question yourself if you truly are a game fan or some clown that just likes to start usless arguments! in the end your not helping sony or anyone else for that matter! so stop all the fanboy nonsense!!!!

  • CaptainHerlock

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 5:44 pm GMT

    Disciple, I'm sorry but that's absolutely ludicrous and incredulous statement on your part. Why do 360 owners still cling to this steadfast belief that the PS3 has only sold 300,000 units worldwide? The PS3 outsold the 360 for the month of January. So obviously people ARE buying it.

  • zeak123

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 5:42 pm GMT

    no Metal Gear Solid is goin be a PS3 exlucive and I don't think it should be one the 360 because it proably wouldn't run it as well as it would on the PS3

  • Gooshnads

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:59 pm GMT

    @ disciple gamer - well i like all the consoles... and personally i just chose ps3 over everything... and personally i believe that most people bought ps3 BECAUSE of mgs4... and there are surely more MGS fans than DMC ... so i mean... i believe that MGS will have extremely good sales even without a port to 360 ... maybe they will since they see such good sales but yeah

  • Disciple_Gamer

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:52 pm GMT

    mgs4 needs to be release now so that konami can see bad sales and port it to the xbox360. dmc4 is benefiting from multiplatform.

  • recce5

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:27 pm GMT

    Many of you guys probably don't even know what's involved in the decision process in going multi-platform for a game.

    1. Double the development cost in manpower, hardware, development time. More time is needed in ensuring whatever implementations on the game had to work smoothly for both platforms.

    2. Exclusivity payments. There are incentives in going single platform, all efforts can be spent to optimize and maximize the capabilities of the system. The game system company will pay a lum sum of money for the exclusive rights.

    Balancing need to be done to weigh the cost and time taken in going multi-platform. Selling 2 million units may not even earn them a lot if they need to invest in the development hardware, employ more people, spend more time to optimize for BOTH platforms, loosing the exclusive payment amount etc.

    So the answer is yes, going single platform will and can still earn you more money than going multi platform.

  • peacenutman

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:26 pm GMT

    I bet over 50% of those sold are on the PS3 version, well at least that's what I saw from stores that PS3 version always has less copies than X360.

  • lamprey263

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:09 pm GMT

    maybe Konami will see this as a sign that they should port MGS4, being as they wanted to sell 1 million+ on release

  • NorthernRT

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:04 pm GMT

    I played all of the ps2 ones, bought a 360, and a so happy it's on the 360 too ;D .. what would I have done? paid £350 just to play DMC4 ... probably, but now I have £315 spare, woot.

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 3:59 pm GMT

    dmc was never about pushing console limits. the ps2 could have easily been pushed farther. the game was rock solid which is what really supported the review scores. im thankful they made it for 360 too. this way more 360-only owners can experience dmc's amazing storyline(albeit with bizarre characters)

  • zfarooq

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 3:21 pm GMT

    XBOX RROD during play waiting for replacement

  • OtakuRay

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 3:17 pm GMT

    Not surprised

  • Hokkie posted Feb 20, 2008 2:59 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Hokkie

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 2:59 pm GMT (hide)

    and 1.8 mill of those are sold on 360

  • Merl57

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 2:22 pm GMT

    This game is great but has some serious issues. A the 2nd have of the game is exactly the same as the first half but going backwards with another character and slightly more powerful versions of the same bosses. And not only that the achievements make you play in like 4-5 different modes so basically you keep repeating yourself way, way too much. WHY CANT THIS GAME HAVE CO- OP? 1 nero 1 dante

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