Resident Evil’s current story will end in ‘the next 10 years’ says Capcom

Claire is back in the spotlight next year (Capcom) The narrative in Resident Evil will reach a definite conclusion according to Capcom, but there’s confusion as to what that exactly means. Resident Evil is the biggest horror franchise in gaming and while it’s consistently great in terms of gameplay and scares, when it comes to the story it’s borderline incomprehensible. There are recurring characters, like Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine, and a timeline of events following the breakout of the T-virus from the Spencer Mansion, as seen in the 1996 original, but making logical sense of it is almost as exhausting as the Zelda chronology. Capcom never originally had a plan for any overarching story, but based on comments from Resident Evil executive producer Jun Takeuchi, it seems like they have a conclusion in mind for the current narrative. Speaking in an interview with Yahoo Japan, Takeuchi stated that, while planning 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, the team created a 10-year plan across the remakes and mainline titles – something which concluded with Resident Evil Requiem this year. ‘The series’ story wasn’t planned out from the beginning; it expanded with each new game,’ Takeuchi said (via IGN). ‘When we were planning RE:2 [Resident Evil 2 remake] and creating a 10-year branding concept, this was the most challenging aspect. If you play through all of them, I think you’ll realise the meaning behind the order of the remakes. Want GTA 6 news? Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week. ‘With the release of Requiem this year, I feel like the first 10 years have come to a close, so I think the conclusion will come in the next 10 years.’ It’s a difficult quote to decipher (and there has been some confusion online), especially as to what Takeuchi means in terms of the ‘conclusion’, but based on the series’ current success, we highly doubt Capcom is plotting some grand conclusion to Resident Evil as a whole. Resident Evil 5 – does it deserve a second chance? (Capcom) Instead, this ‘conclusion’ likely (maybe?) means the current narrative between the remakes and mainline titles will reach an end. Resident Evil Veronica is slated for next year, and a remake of Resident Evil Zero is rumoured to be in the works. Outside of those titles, the only games you could realistically return to is Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, and the original again, before you run out of projects to tackle (although we’d happily take a redo of Revelations). Alternatively, Resident Evil Requiem features a lot of callbacks to Resident Evil 2 and Leon’s journey since, which might be the ending of this ‘arc’ so to speak. As such, the remake of Veronica (which takes place three months after Resident Evil 2) might kickstart a focus on Claire Redfield, so we might see a ‘conclusion’ to her story in future games. Although the idea that Requiem’s ending was the part of some grand plan seems at odds with evidence suggesting that the whole final act was completely changed at the last minute. Something that’s evident in the conflicting reasons for why the bad guys want to kidnap Grace, at the beginning and end of the story. In regards to new mainline titles, there have been three entries over the past 10 years, with 2017’s Resident Evil 7, 2021’s Resident Evil Village, and this year’s Resident Evil Requiem. As such, we can perhaps expect three more over the next decade, unless Capcom decides to make a bigger deal of Requiem’s already confirmed story DLC. Takeuchi was also asked, in the same interview, how many Resident Evil games we can expect from Capcom before this ‘conclusion’, replying: ‘I can’t say, because it would spoil the fun for everyone, but there won’t be just one. There will be multiple titles.’ Of course, that is obvious, but it does raise the question of how Capcom will approach the series once it does run out of remakes to mine. Let’s just hope it doesn’t involve another competitive multiplayer spin-off. Recently, Capcom announced Resident Evil Requiem has sold 8.51 million copies since it launched in February. The highest-selling game of the series ever is 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, with 19.7 million copies sold. Will Grace team up with Claire next? (Capcom) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: GTA 6 file size revealed on PS5 and it’s the biggest single-player game ever Arrow MORE: Cyberpunk 2 will have multiplayer mode according to job listing Arrow MORE: Kingdom Come dev hit by cyberattack as Capcom take Street Fighter 5 offline GameCentral Get the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week.