We’re in a second golden age of Resident Evil now, with Capcom’s survival horror franchise having delivered a string of all-time classics ever since RE7 turned its fortunes around in 2017. Whether its remakes or new mainline entries, pretty much everything Resident Evil does these days turns to gold, so it’s only natural that there’s always plenty of excitement and curiosity surrounding what the future holds for the series.
Of course, that’s something that we currently don’t have a ton of concrete details on. We can obviously take for granted the fact that Capcom has multiple Resident Evil games in the works and lined up for release over the coming years- that much would be obvious even in the absence of any communication whatsoever from the company itself. But the exact nature of those plans is something that we don’t yet know much about. As ever though, we do have leaks and rumours to fall back on.
Interestingly enough, leaks have also claimed that, yes, Capcom does indeed have multiple RE titles in the works simultaneously. More specifically, prominent insider and leaker Dusk Golem (aka AestheticGamer) claimed earlier in the year that as many as five Resident Evil titles are in the works– and if the leaker’s claims are anything to go by, we know what at least three of those games will be.
Unsurprisingly, one is Resident Evil 9, or whatever Capcom ends up calling the series’ next mainline numbered entry, i.e. the follow-up to Resident Evil Village. The game is allegedly going to leverage the RE Engine’s new open world tech (which it now boasts courtesy of Dragon’s Dogma 2), which likely means it’ll be a wider and more expansive experience than its predecessors, while it also allegedly has the largest ever development budget and longest ever development cycle for a Resident Evil game to date. Another source, Residence of Evil, has claimed that fan favourite series mainstays in Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine will return to share the spotlight as the protagonists, though Dusk Golem has refuted those claims- which means we’re going to have to wait for official word from Capcom for more clarity on what to expect.
When that official word will arrive is anyone’s guess. Very rarely does Capcom take off years with Resident Evil. With the exception of 2018 and 2024, it has released either a new Resident Evil game or new DLC for a previously released one every single year over the last few years, and under ordinary circumstances, that would mean RE9 would be more or less a lock for 2025. However, with Monster Hunter Wilds being Capcom’s big flagship release for the early months of next year, that would mean Resident Evil 9 would likely be releasing in the later months. The last several entries in the series have come out in the first half of their respective years, and though that doesn’t mean that RE9 can’t buck that trend, it does make it seem a little unlikelier. Even so, at the latest, we’d expect the game to release by the first few months of 2026, which means the wait for more information won’t be an interminable one, at the very least.
Beyond that, to no one’s surprise, it’s claimed that multiple Resident Evil remakes are also in the works. The series has been on a stellar run with its remakes, having enjoyed widespread critical and commercial acclaim across the board, which meant new remakes were pretty much a guarantee. What might take some by surprise, however, is the projects that Capcom has allegedly chosen to remake. Most would have figured that Resident Evil 5 would be the next natural choice, while many even wondered if the original Resident Evil could be in line for a second remake, this time bringing the classic into the modern era with an RE Engine third-person reimagination.
However, based on what Dusk Golem claimed earlier in the year, neither of those two are being remade– yet, at the very least. Instead, Capcom is allegedly developing remakes of Resident Evil: Code – Veronica and Resident Evil Zero. The former is something that many fans have been begging for for a while now, and though the latter is considered one of the franchise’s black sheep, it’s a game that many feel could benefit massively from a facelift and a reimagining. The prospect of remakes of the two titles is certainly an exciting one, then, especially because of how unexpected it is.
Interestingly, it’s claimed that the Zero remake isn’t actually being handled by Capcom internally, with external teams K2 and M-Two supposedly leading the charge for the project, with Capcom overseeing. For those unfamiliar, those were the teams that handled the Resident Evil 3 remake, a game that has a decidedly spottier reputation that virtually every other modern Resident Evil title, which means there will likely be some who will be skeptical about what that means for the Zero remake. Given the fact that Code – Veronica is the unquestionably bigger and more significant title, however, it makes sense that Zero has been handed to an external team while Capcom itself takes care of more pressing projects. Besides, Resident Evil 3 is, at the very least, a fun, well-made game, even with its flaws, so hopefully, Zero will at least be on that same level, if not better.
Beyond that, what the other two Resident Evil games are besides the three we’ve touched on is a mystery. It’s possible that early work has already started on the next mainline Resident Evil entry after RE9- after all, RE9 itself has allegedly been in development since 2018, three years before even Village had come out, so it wouldn’t be inconceivable for Capcom to be adopting a similar approach for what comes next. That is all guesswork at best, however. Sure, RE9, Code – Veronica, and Zero are also all unconfirmed and unverified rumours, which is only a little worse than guesswork- but in the absence of official information, it is better than guesswork.
What’s exciting about Resident Evil right now is that it seems like Capcom has a vast treasure trove of past material and new ideas to dive into for future instalments. Where new entries are concerned, given the series’ vast web of narrative threads, characters, settings, and flavours, it feels like there’s so much a new Resident Evil could do, while in the remake department, Capcom clearly won’t be running out of games to remake and improve anytime soon. That RE5 remake is an inevitability, even if it’s not being made right now, and we’d bet that another RE1 remake will eventually happen as well. Can we maybe also expect a Resident Evil 6 remake down the line? That remains to be seen, but the fact that it’s a possibility, and the fact that even a game as disastrous as RE6 would make for an exciting remake in this age of Resident Evil, tells you all you need to know about the excellent shape the beloved horror franchise currently finds itself in.
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