Resident Evil Requiem will feature a return to the series' "overarching narrative" begun 30 years ago, Capcom has said, following the launch of more recent games such as Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village which focused on events set elsewhere, with fewer connections to past titles.
Requiem not only features the return of Raccoon City, but will also apparently pick up on the current status of the shadowy Umbrella Corporation. The last we heard of that, the company had gone bankrupt. But is it back now, somehow — or did it ever really go away?
Speaking in a interview published on the PlayStation blog, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa said the game was being designed to to commemorate the franchise's 30th anniversary next year, when it releases on February 27, 2026, three decades on from the March 1996 launch of the original Resident Evil.
"In recent mainline titles like Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village, the series has explored the broader world of the Resident Evil universe by focusing on incidents involving the Winters family," Kumazawa said.
"With Resident Evil Requiem, however, we wanted to return to a story that continues the overarching narrative rooted in Raccoon City and the secret machinations of the Umbrella Corporation. As the series celebrates its 30th anniversary, we believe Raccoon City is the most fitting setting."
While Resident Evil 7 is relatively recent in terms of the series' overall timeline, it still arrived back in 2017. Think back to when we last saw classic Resident Evil characters outside of remakes, and its clear the series has plenty of fan-favorites ripe for a return.
Another classic Resident Evil story thread that Requiem will link back to is that of spin-off series Resident Evil Outbreak, with new protagonist Grace Ashcroft the daughter of Outbreak's Alyssa.
"When creating a story set in the ruins of Raccoon City, we felt it was fitting to have a character with a personal connection to the city itself," Kumazawa continued, referencing Leo- sorry, Grace.
"In this title, which aims to focus on horror, we introduce Grace as a new, relatable protagonist, who is unlike previous protagonists Leon or Chris," he added.
Kumazawa went on to reiterate what have we heard from other Requiem developers previously, that Grace was specifically chosen as the game's protagonist because she was someone who still "jumps in fright" when an enemy appears.
But again, Capcom has also stated that Requiem will feature more action-heavy sequences. And perhaps it's here that fans will get to play as someone like Leon — someone also with a personal connection to Raccoon City — if he is also in the game, as many fans still believe.
"We always thought about making Leon the protagonist," Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi said during the Capcom Spotlight 2025 broadcast last night, before saying he was a "bad match for horror" gameplay. In a separate developer diary, Capcom confirmed it had experimented with plans to make Resident Evil: Requiem an open-world game, and for it feature online elements, before realising this wasn't what fans wanted.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
