Tonight’s Gamescom Opening Night Live broadcast has given us a fresh look at Resident Evil: Requiem protagonist Grace Ashcroft, but no sign of fan-favorite Leon S. Kennedy.
As expected, today’s show brought with it a deeper dive into Capcom’s hotly-anticipated upcoming survival horror (which is also playable here at Gamescom). Footage once again showed the game’s new star Grace Ashcroft in action, though fans were left wondering about Leon’s whereabouts.
Following a phone call from unknown voice, Grace Ashcroft and her mom Alyssa attempt to escape from the hotel in which they had been staying, as the power is cut and the pair are attacked. We already know what happens next, as Grace is seen investigating the hotel years later, as an FBI analyst.
Capcom previously promised that Requiem will feature a return to the series’ “overarching narrative” begun 30 years ago, after more recent games such as Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village focused on events set elsewhere, with fewer connections to past titles. Already, fans had noted the return of Raccoon City and references to the shadowy Umbrella Corporation, while hoping for more, including a first sighting of Leon.
“We always thought about making Leon the protagonist,” Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi previously said, “but making a horror game based around him is difficult. He wouldn’t jump at a bucket falling. No one wants to see Leon scared by every little thing. So he’s actually quite a bad match for horror.”
Many fans took this comment to mean that Leon was still in the game somewhere, likely in sequences that offered more action-orientated gameplay, as while stating the character wouldn’t be suitable for horror sections, Nakanishi notably stopped short of ruling the character out altogether.
There’s plenty of time still until Resident Evil Requiem eventually launches, on February 27, 2026.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
