While Capcom has indicated an interest in bringing back some of its older IPs, especially with upcoming titles like Onimusha: Way of the Sword, one of the bigger franchises still left behind has been Dino Crisis. However, new rumours indicate that the company has been trying to figure out a way to bring the dinosaur-based horror series back in some way. According to known leaker AestheticGamer, Capcom has tried numerous times to make a new Dino Crisis.
According to social media posts, the first attempt to make a Dino Crisis was being handled by Capcom Vancouver before the studio was closed down in 2018. A second attempt happened a few years ago, but was also ultimately scrapped. AestheticGamer’s posts indicate that the company is still trying to figure out what to do with the series in its prototyping stages.
“I hope Capcom eventually figures out what they want to do with Dino Crisis,” posted AestheticGamer. “For the record and I don’t believe this is new info, but there has been a couple attempts in the last decade to remake Dino Crisis, the first by Capcom Vancouver before they were shut down (still have some of the leaked materials for that on my hard drive actually), the second a few years ago but just wasn’t turning out good so it got scrapped. I hope they one day figure out how they want to go forward with Dino Crisis and it’s able to pass prototyping stages.”
The Dino Crisis games have largely been left behind, with the last major title in the series being Dino Crisis 3 in 2003. While there were a few rumours in the 2010s that development on a new Dino Crisis title had begun, nothing had really come of it. Considering Capcom’s approach to bringing the Resident Evil series back, however, the company might be interested in returning to Dino Crisis with a remake of the original title before working on new games.
The first Dino Crisis was released on the original PlayStation all the way back in 1999. Making use of similar gameplay mechanics to Resident Evil, Dino Crisis had players explore areas that might have aggressive dinosaurs waiting to ambush them. The title also made use of similar control schemes and the locked camera angles, putting it squarely into the survival horror genre alongside Resident Evil, since the dinosaurs were effective jump scares.
Interestingly, Capcom had filed a fresh trademark for Dino Crisis back in March. This would indicate that the company is interested in hanging on to the IP, possibly with remasters, remakes, or even full-fledged sequels being developed. The renewal was the first time the trademark had been touched by Capcom since it originally filed for it back in 1999.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in revisiting Dino Crisis, the first two games of the franchise have been available on PC through GOG since January. The releases were part of GOG’s Preservation Program, which hopes to preserve classic games by making sure they are playable on modern systems, and compatible with modern-day controllers.
