Resident Evil 7 demo breaks records with over 2 million downloads on PS4

At E3 2016, Capcom announced the return of its iconic horror franchise, Resident Evil, with a brand new demo titled Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour at Sony's E3 conference. Despite only being available for PlayStation Plus subscribers, the creepy teaser demo is already breaking records, racking up over 2 million downloads worldwide and counting. The teaser has also become the most downloaded single-player demo on PS4 in the first seven days of release for North America, Capcom announced in a press release.

"We would like to thank all our fans for the feedback and support – the nail-biting exploration and terrifying atmosphere in the demo is just a taste of what can be expected when the game releases on January 24, 2017," Capcom said.

Although the demo's gameplay is not a slice of Resident Evil 7 biohazard, it is designed to give fans a "tonal preview" of sorts before the title's release by showcasing events leading up to the game.

Director Kōshi Nakanishi told GameRant last week that although the demo does showcase a different side of the famed franchise sans zombies, the company has not "just thrown out Resident Evil as it exists and turned it into a ghost story."

"In the 20 year history of Resident Evil, you know that the key pillars of the game are fear and horror, exploration of the environment, puzzle-solving elements, resource management, and combat against enemies," Nakanishi said. "Those are all in this game, but we wanted to start off with the first two – horror and exploration – and get you experiencing those two pillars up front."

Capcom has maintained that the latest instalment in the series will get back to the franchise's signature blood-curdling horror roots and focus less on action-heavy combat.

"We had a lot of internal discussion about where to take this series [after Resident Evil 6]," producer Masachika Kawata told Polygon. "My boss, Jun Takeuchi, requested that we strip it down to its core — and the best way to express the horror directly is in first-person view."

Resident Evil 7 is slated to release on 24 January 2017 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, Xbox One and PC.