Future Planning
Capcom has a plan for when its rollout of Resident Evil remakes eventually catches up with newer games in the series, and considers Resident Evil 7 as a turning point.
That is according to Jun Takeuchi, a Capcom veteran who has served as executive producer for the series over the past decade, who has acknowledged the fact that Capcom's popular remakes are slowly running out of classic games to re-release. The publisher has already remade Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4, with a new version of Code Veronica slated for next year.
It has previously been reported that a Resident Evil 0 remake will follow, and that a Resident Evil 1 remake has also been considered. Of the mainline Resident Evil games, this would then just leave Resident Evil 5 and 6 as the remaining titles to get new versions.
While Capcom likely has enough remakes to keep releases going for another decade, there will come a point where the publisher needs to decide whether to remake other titles, start remaking previous remakes, or pursue alternative directions.
Development Tracks
The current Resident Evil series is being developed along two tracks, Takeuchi noted, writing in the Biohazard 30th anniversary special magazine book.
Someday, the remake series will catch up with the era of the numbered titles, and we are already thinking about what we will do when that happens, he stated. In fact, we have been gradually preparing for that since around Resident Evil Village. The appearance of names such as Umbrella and Spencer, as well as the return of Raccoon City, are also in preparation for a crossover.
At first, these elements were included as fan service, but users were far more delighted by them than anticipated, prompting the development team to push this setup further in Village and subsequent projects.
Takeuchi went on to state that Capcom regarded Resident Evil 7 as a turning point for the series as it was in development when plans to start remaking older games came to fruition.
Resident Evil 5 sold very well following the success of Resident Evil 4, though future remakes would likely address the game's setting and companion characters. Meanwhile, Resident Evil 6 featured a range of protagonists, offering potential areas for improvement in an eventual new version.
Capcom's suggestion indicates that the studio is using its remakes to seed ideas it will pick up again in newer titles when that crossover point eventually arrives.
For now, the studio has plenty of releases on the horizon, with Resident Evil Code Veronica next on the docket.
