Final week in Cologne, Capcom’s nerve-jangling Resident Evil Requiem demo was considered one of the highlights of the Gamescom 2025 present ground. Providing an introduction to the recreation’s hero Grace Ashcroft, in addition to a suitably unsettling monster, the quick taster of subsequent 12 months’s title simultaeously felt recent but in addition like basic Resident Evil — a excellent mix of previous and new for the collection’ upcoming thirtieth anniversary.
However, as everyone knows, there’s one thing else about Resident Evil Requiem driving fan curiosity proper now — and that is the ongoing query mark over the standing of floppy-haired fan favourite Leon S. Kennedy. Rumors persist he’s in the recreation as a second character, although, if certainly he’s, Capcom as soon as once more held again from revealing the Resident Evil 2 and 4 star throughout the Gamescom’s Opening Night time Reside story trailer.
My intestine feeling right here is that Capcom is completely having fun with all the hypothesis, and in no hurry to finish it a technique or one other. After all, followers ought to anticipate extra Resident Evil Requiem particulars to be introduced in the end, however all in response to the recreation’s rigorously curated advertising plan. And for this reason, as I readied myself to take a seat down with Requiem’s director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa, I used to be overly not stunned to be informed that the pair wouldn’t touch upon whether or not Leon was in the recreation or not. (In any other case, this is able to have have been my first query.)
That stated, and with out particularly confirming Leon both means, Nakanishi and Kumazawa had a lot to say on fan expectations for a recreation that Capcom itself has been selling as the entry that lastly will get again to the franchise’s origins — although, intriguingly, the pair confirmed Resident Evil Requiem was not designed particularly as a thirtieth anniversary recreation, a clarification Capcom maybe feels essential to maintain some wilder fan expectations in verify. There’s a lot under about Requiem’s new monster star, a hulking, heaving distorted feminine determine that appears set to tackle the identical standing as Mr X, and an obvious shutdown of a concept as to the monster’s identification (it does not sound like it’s Lisa Trevor). Learn on for all that, and way more.
IGN: Let’s begin by speaking about the monster — do you will have a title for her but?
Koshi Nakanishi: She’s scarier if we do not let you know her title. Be at liberty to offer her a nickname! ‘Big Mama’ is considered one of the ones we have heard, however we’re taking all types of strategies.
IGN: These enemy characters typically develop into emblematic of the video games they’re in — resembling Mr X, Nemesis, even Woman Dimitrescu. How do you start designing these characters that develop into such a, actually, massive a part of your recreation?
Nakanishi: Yeah, there’s been fairly a few forms of so-called ‘stalker enemies’ in Resident Evil video games over the years and I feel it’s develop into a little bit of a legacy of the collection to have these pursuers. That made it tough for us by way of how one can design a new one that will stand out amongst the crowd of iconic characters that you simply talked about.
Truly on this case the character was initially smaller, however I figured let’s scale her up and I feel that was the proper reply as a result of then her unimaginable dimension all of the sudden turns into overwhelming and she actually stands out from the pack of stalker enemies. The base idea was an enemy that you’d know instantly, and once you look you recognize, like, ‘that is not proper, I do not need any a part of this, that is unhealthy.’
IGN: There’s a clear visible cue when Big Mama steps into the mild that implies she will be able to’t comply with you into lit rooms. The mild burns her, and you instantly perceive that this makes lit rooms a protected zone. Was that a response to previous protected zones in vivid rooms the place enemies aren’t in a position to pursue you, however with out an in-universe motive why?
Nakanishi: Yeah, that is a part of it. I wished to convey a barely new twist on the thought of exploring the so-called mansion-type environments which might be typical to Resident Evil video games and reasonably than having a particular location that is protected, or unsafe, you’ll have seen that a lot of the rooms have mild switches and lamps and issues in them. So I feel it’s extra to let you will have a likelihood to create your personal room that in a given state of affairs that specific creature is afraid of the mild amd will not are available.
IGN: One among my favourite moments from the demo was when the mild went out in a room that I assumed was protected. Are there nonetheless rooms that are definitively protected, possibly with a typewriter in? Or is it that, on this recreation, no room is totally protected?
Nakanishi: I am glad that labored on you as a result of that was my precise intention. I feel with horror that you must set up the guidelines and then that you must break them so as to add much more concern and nervousness. So you determine how one can keep protected, and then you definately understand that it’s not as protected as you thought. It’s a option to simply convey a subsequent degree of concern to the expertise. You assume you will have it, and then we pull the rug out of your ft. In order that’s precisely my intention.
IGN: So, are there rooms in the recreation which might be definitively protected?
Nakanishi: Even I do not wish to know if I can decide to 100% protected.
IGN: Clearly Big Mama is the focus of this demo however, going again to these horror guidelines, you additionally presumably want sequences the place the participant feels extra protected. How a lot of the recreation has the pursuer ingredient in?
Nakanishi: The demo takes place fairly early in the recreation and the state of affairs Grace finds herself in is the most terrifying of her life. She’s a pretty inexperienced, she’s by no means been in this type of biohazard state of affairs earlier than. In order that’s just about like a most degree of concern for her.
There’ll after all be a progress that she experiences and she’ll undergo this and come out hopefully feeling a little much less scared. And you will have moments the place you’ll take a break from that excessive horror and do some exploration, backtracking and puzzle-solving and then gun fight as effectively.
She’s going to get weapons in her fingers. She will not be defensive all through the complete recreation and I feel that it’s a satisfying progress journey that you simply go on along with her the place she’s not going to be terrified proper by the finish of the recreation.
IGN: So Grace herself will be capable to fireplace weapons later in the recreation?
Masato Kumazawa: Sure. As you talked about, the collection is understood for this type of stress and launch, catharsis curve. We won’t maintain most nervousness all through or its tiring, however we additionally wish to maintain you in your toes so you must have this rollercoaster dynamic stress all through. And we’re going for that once more, however we wish to make the wavelength of that curve be the greatest it’s ever been, the place you are going to have big stress spikes and then we provide you with a nice launch of stress as effectively.
IGN: There are some very attention-grabbing theories about the monster on-line. I’ve seen dialogue about Big Mama being Alyssa, actually Grace’s mom, was a monster. There’s additionally chatter that the monster’s screams sound the identical as Lisa Trevor. Are you conscious of a few of these fan theories and is there something you wish to level gamers in the direction of?
Nakanishi: We’re very a lot conscious of the dialogue and hypothesis about this type of factor and as a participant, at any time when I am enjoying a recreation, I like to get entangled in that stuff, however I do not assume it’s truthful for me to weigh in on these debates as a developer.
Kumazawa: I do not wish to burst this bubble earlier than the recreation comes out. That increasing dialogue and hypothesis is a part of the enjoyable of ready for a recreation to launch and then you definately’ll get the reply once you play the recreation. So hopefully you’ll be able to that simply a little bit longer. One remark I’ll say is that you simply talked about about the scream being a part of the hypothesis, the sound in the demo shouldn’t be remaining, it’s really short-term audio, so I would not focus an excessive amount of on what you’ll be able to hear in the demo proper now. When the remaining recreation comes out, it’s going to develop into clearer.
IGN: Lots of people who’ve performed the demo right here at Gamescom have stated it could be nice to launch it publicly earlier than the recreation comes out — and in the previous the Resident Evil collection has achieved issues like that. Is that one thing you might be contemplating?
Nakanishi: Nothing is confirmed or set in stone at the second, however we’re additionally monitoring the suggestions of people who find themselves enjoying the recreation at occasions and we will take that into consideration once we resolve our subsequent steps.
IGN: Let’s talk about Alyssa — followers had been pleasantly stunned to see her return, a while after Resident Evil Outbreak. Why was her character picked to return and develop into such a massive a part of Requiem’s story?
Nakanishi: We knew we wished to return to Raccoon City for this recreation. It has been a very long time since the Raccoon City incident and for the previous few titles we have been exploring barely extra unknown corners of the Resident Evil universe. So, coming again to the Umbrella Company and the collection most important central mysteries and themes was the purpose of this undertaking.
With that in thoughts, really, Alyssa was the excellent character to be the key to all of this as a result of she, as followers will know, is a survivor of the Raccoon City incident who then grew to become a journalist and wished to uncover the fact behind Umbrella Company’s involvement. She chased up leads and as you noticed in the Opening Night time Reside presentation, she in the end paid the worth of her life for that investigation.
Grace, her daughter, now’s the subsequent era. She did not straight expertise the Raccoon City incident, however her life is modified by the demise of her mom — the homicide of her mom as a consequence or cowl up of all this. So she’s taking that torch to the subsequent era and as an FBI investigator needs to get to the fact behind not simply the incident however her mom’s demise as effectively.
So when you concentrate on it in these phrases, actually Alyssa was essential and virtually the solely character we might have used to attach all of those dots collectively
IGN: And it feels intentional, as the Resident Evil collection approaches its thirtieth anniversary, to have a recreation that appears again at these origins, proper? How formidable are you being answering a few of these mysteries and questions from the preliminary video games in Requiem?
Nakanishi: It’s tough to precisely say what number of of the lingering mysteries of the Resident Evil lore will lastly be answered, however you’ll get solutions on this recreation to at the very least a few of them. And whereas it’s not an ending for the collection, it strikes the basic storyline of the universe ahead.
IGN: Why did you make the choice, with such a concentrate on the older video games and older mysteries, to introduce a new protagonist?
Kumazawa: Though there are a lot of connections on this recreation to the lore and the mysteries of the collection, previous titles and total storyline, I do not wish to give the impression that you must be an skilled in all of this lore to essentially get the recreation. If that is your first Resident Evil recreation ever, we have designed it so you’ll be able to take pleasure in it by itself phrases, as a recreation with a storyline that options a character who, if something, as a new protagonist Grace virtually represents that sort of participant.
She’s somebody who did not expertise all of this stuff however has heard of them and heard of Umbrella Company and Raccoon City, however it’s really all recent and new, and terrifying. After all, if you’re a fan and know these issues, there’s an additional degree that you would be able to get out of it, however you’ll be able to nonetheless get a 100% from this recreation. And in case you do know any of it, you may get 120%.
And by having a new character, I feel we are able to convey you on a journey along with her that exhibits her progress, from being pretty terrified and inexperienced at the begin of the recreation, once you’ll really feel the identical, so you’ll be able to develop along with her and develop into extra snug. I can not actually say precisely what is going to occur on that journey, however I am actually assured that you’re going to love coming alongside for the trip when the recreation lastly releases.
IGN: There’s so many fan favourites from the Resident Evil collection’ previous that gamers wish to see come again. Do you are feeling a want to incorporate components of the previous, particularly on this recreation that appears again to the collection’ origins?
Nakanishi: Yeah, it’s robust to reply with out entering into an excessive amount of we’re not prepared to speak about but, however we all know that individuals anticipate to be stunned or pleasantly stunned at any time when they, such as you say, they get the connections or they’re completely satisfied to see this or that they are aware of coming again. However I am certain that individuals shall be completely satisfied after they see how we have managed to mix a recent strategy and a recent new character with additionally issues that followers will acknowledge.
IGN: Lastly, with out asking about any specific character being in the recreation, I am going to merely enquire — are you having fun with the present quantity of hypothesis on-line about Resident Evil Requiem?
Kumazawa: Yeah, we love testing the conversations which might be occurring, however this is not a recreation which is totally targeted on trying again. And we’re again in Raccoon City, however that is not the solely location in the recreation. It’s popping out in the thirtieth anniversary, nevertheless it wasn’t deliberate that means. It simply ended up with the growth was completed and the recreation is able to launch in 2026, which is the thirtieth anniversary. It wasn’t in-built to be an anniversary title that’s solely backward dealing with. So there’s a lot extra to the recreation than simply the collection’ legacy. We did not name it Resident Evil 9 in spite of everything. There’s a clue in the brand kind, however in the end the title is Resident Evil Requiem. That is what we would like you to take from the title of the recreation. That stated, the feeling we have to dwell as much as followers’ expectations is in a good sense a sort of strain as a result of it motivates us. So we like to see it.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You may attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social