Resident Evil 5 US sales nearly 2 million

International news service Reuters caused a bit of a stir earlier today, when it reported as part of a Halloween feature that EA and Visceral Games' Dead Space 2 is not only official, but also due in 2010. Given that EA has previously stated that a Dead Space sequel will soon be entering full-scale development, the statement has merit, but the publisher was quick to dismiss Reuters' claim as mere speculation.

However, Reuters' sales statistics for Capcom's highly regarded Resident Evil 5 are of far less dubious provenance. Citing figures from the industry-standard NPD Group, Reuters said as part of the same aforementioned report that Resident Evil 5 has to date sold 1.94 million units in the US since its launch in March for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A PC edition of the game went on sale in September.

In June, Capcom said that Resident Evil 5 had achieved global sales of more than 5 million units. Yesterday, the publisher attributed its strong performance during the first six months of its fiscal year in part to the game's continued strength at retail.

As part of the Tokyo Game Show in September, Capcom announced Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition would be available in Japan for the PS3 this spring, with an Xbox 360 edition also teased. The game will support Sony's new EyeToy-compatible motion controller, which will launch in Japan in March. The Alternative Edition will also include a new episode featuring Chris and Jill that is based on a flashback scene from the original RE5.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Resident Evil 5.