Leon smoothed his bangs, Resident Evil 9 hit 320,000 concurrent players on day one

Resident Evil: Requiem officially launched yesterday, hitting a peak of 320,000 concurrent players in the first 24 hours — numbers I'd normally be skeptical of under ordinary circumstances.

But part of that traffic surge can be credited to a rather baffling idle animation.

Leon is just standing there when he suddenly raises his hand and sweeps his bangs back from front to back. It should have looked cool — except the gesture comes across as so deliberate, radiating an inexplicable air of self-satisfaction, that players unanimously declared: greasy.

The reactions in the comments were split down the middle — some watched it and immediately pulled out their wallets: "Oh my god, I have to buy this game!"; others dragged Vergil into the conversation: "Is Leon trying to recreate that iconic hair-slicking scene from Devil May Cry 3?"

Then there were the defenders: "He's genuinely trying to maintain his aura, okay?"

All things considered, an idle animation that both amuses passersby and reels them in is pretty solid bang for your buck.