Last night’s Capcom Spotlight provided new information and snippets of gameplay for Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the series. We learned the game’s central theme and story setup, why Capcom chose Grace Ashcroft as its protagonist, and more.
Director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masachika Kawata explain that Requiem is a single-player offline adventure, and they dive into how the protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, represents a new type of lead for the franchise. Unlike previous stars like Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the FBI analyst is shy, timid, and not adept at fighting; she instead relies on her wits to gradually overcome her fears. This approach is designed to make players better identify with Grace since she’s essentially a normal person thrown into an extraordinarily horrifying situation.
Grace’s relative helplessness also feeds into the game’s core concept of “addictive horror”, which Nakanishi explains is an experience so overwhelmingly scary that players become addicted to the challenge of conquering their fears. He also unexpectedly drops that Leon S. Kennedy was considered for the starring role but was ultimately declared a bad fit. You can watch Requiem’s Spotlight segment starting at the 19:06 mark.
In addition to showing off new gameplay footage from the upcoming game, the presentation lays out the premise: Requiem unfolds 30 years after the destruction of Raccoon City. The designers discuss how the city spawned so many stories, characters, and hardships for everyone connected to it, and that the new game is “a requiem, a eulogy to those who came before,”, hence the choice of the title. This theme of reflection is fitting, given that Requiem launches one month shy of the series’ 30th anniversary in March 2026.
Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can learn more about its gameplay by reading our hands-on preview from Summer Game Fest.