Capcom scrapped a six-year multiplayer Resident Evil prototype before turning it into Requiem

In an interview with Press Start Australia, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa revealed that Capcom was initially working on a “fun to play” multiplayer Resident Evil prototype, which was six years in development, and which predated even Resident Evil 8: Village.

However, Capcom backtracked, recognizing the project’s mismatch with the series’ roots, and went back to the drawing board, reshaping it into Resident Evil Requiem. In the interview, Kumazawa said:

Looking at the game when it was multiplayer, the horror part was very wild. However, in that build, we made a game that was fun to play. But we looked deeply into this game and wondered if a fan of the franchise would really like this.

So we thought they probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much. That’s the reason we made it back into the single-player. There are some remaining elements, but we can’t disclose what it is and how it is.

However, when pressed about the “remaining elements,” Kumazawa laughed it off. The decision to pivot back to the series’ grassroots was based on fan reception, about which Kumazawa said:

I believe fans of the franchise want survival horror and being scared. That is the number one thing fans want. So by saying that, we can’t just slap on new skins and new characters and give you the same experience.

It wouldn’t be good. That’s why we wanted to make sure we added new elements that ensured this feels like a new survival horror game.

Requiem is promised to follow in the footsteps of 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which revived the franchise after back-to-back poorly received mainline installments, including 2009’s Resident Evil 5 and 2012’s Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil Requiem will follow the same action-horror philosophy of Biohazard, promising scares until the very end.

Early impressions from Gamescom and PAX West have shown Resident Evil Requiem to be a horror game of hide-and-seek as players navigate tight spaces while trying to escape a smarter enemy dubbed “Big Mama” by gamers.

Resident Evil Requiem has already surpassed 2 million wishlists across all platforms as of November and currently stands as the fourth most-wishlisted game on Steam. The game is set to release on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27, 2026.

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