Regardless of what’s been said about the game to date, Resident Evil: Requiem’s director and producer want you to know that the title — scheduled for release in 2026, the series’ 30th anniversary year — has more going on than a simple focus on nostalgia.
It’s perhaps an odd thing to hear, as Capcom itself has highlighted how Resident Evil Requiem will return to the survival horror series’ roots back in Raccoon City, after several games set elsewhere. And it’ll be there, in the crumbling remnants of the series’ past, that Capcom has also promised players will find answers to lingering story threads and open questions from decades ago.
But despite all of this, and despite the huge ongoing speculation over Leon S. Kennedy’s potential presence in the game (something Capcom specifically declined to comment on to IGN), Capcom is keen for Requiem to be seen as more than just a look back into the franchise’s past. Speaking to IGN last week at Gamescom, in a question specifically about the current focus of fan debate, producer Masato Kumazawa made it clear that Requiem would end up being as much about the series’ future, as well as its origins.
“We love checking out the conversations that are happening,” Kumazawa said, “but this isn’t a game which is entirely focused on looking back. And we’re back in Raccoon City, but that’s not the only location in the game,” he revealed.
Indeed, while Requiem’s release has lined up with the Resident Evil series’ 30th anniversary next year, Kumazawa made clear that this was not the project’s initial plan — perhaps suggesting that fans expecting some kind of long-planned grand finale might need to adjust their expectations.
“It’s coming out in the 30th anniversary, but it wasn’t planned that way,” Kumazawa said. “It just ended up with the development was finished and the game is ready to release in 2026, which is the 30th anniversary.
“It wasn’t built in to be an anniversary title that is only backward facing,” he continued. “So there’s a lot more to the game than just the series’ legacy. We didn’t call it Resident Evil 9 after all. There’s a clue in the logo type, but ultimately the name is Resident Evil Requiem.”
When asked by IGN whether Capcom felt the need to cater to fans who want to see familiar things return, Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi said this was “tough to answer without getting into too much we’re not ready to talk about yet.”
“We know that people expect to be surprised or pleasantly surprised whenever they, like you say, they get the connections or they’re happy to see this or that they’re familiar with coming back,” Nakanishi said, without mentioning any character in particular.
“But I’m sure that people will be happy when they see how we’ve managed to blend a fresh approach and a fresh new character with also things that fans will recognize.”
For much more on the game, including the origins and fan theories surrounding its new ‘Big Mama’ monster, check out IGN’s full Resident Evil: Requiem interview.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
