While Capcom used to have a tradition of releasing spin-offs in its Resident Evil franchise between larger releases of mainline games, the company has seemingly left this strategy behind. Now, it instead opts for remakes of older mainline entries to fill in the gaps. In an interview with Game Informer (via Nintendo Everything), producer Masachika Kawata confirmed this and explained the rationale behind how working on just new mainline Resident Evil entries would be quite difficult for Capcom.
“One of the reasons for creating remakes is producing a new entry in the Resident Evil series every year would be quite an undertaking and a difficult task,” he explained. “So, being able to revisit older games and remake them helps Capcom meet that goal of releasing a Resident Evil title each year, but it also allows the team to continually challenge themselves and hone their craft.”
Despite this, Kawata also emphasized the fact that the remakes are quite important for Capcom, since it allows the company to revisit some of the older games in its catalogue and introduce them to a new audience. Along with this, the remakes also help with raising development funds that can then be invested in the making of new games.
“That’s not to say the remakes are any less important. In fact, they’re just as important as the mainline titles. Capcom is lucky enough to have found this cycle that can continue to provide us with the financial resources to create things like new entries in the Resident Evil series and completely new IP like Pragmata. So there is that relationship there.”
While fans might be disappointed about the lack of new Resident Evil spin-offs, Kawata has noted that the company also has to deal with limited resources. Currently, that means pouring just about everything it has into the development of new mainline games and remakes.
“Maybe there are a lot of people out there who would like to see more spinoff titles or such, but honestly, the team is giving everything it has right now, working on things like our new entries like Requiem or remakes. So honestly, at the moment, that’s where our efforts [are] being focused. We are so focused on pouring our energy into that, I don’t think there’s a whole lot left right now for a spinoff.”
The most recent entry in the franchise was Resident Evil Requiem, which came to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year. The title saw almost universal acclaim, with its Metacritic rating sitting at 89. In our own review, we gave it a score of 9 out of 10 thanks to its blend of action and horror gameplay.
The next game in the franchise is going to be Resident Evil Veronica. While it doesn’t yet have a solid release date, Capcom is aiming for a 2027 launch window. Following Capcom’s recent pattern, it is going to be a remake of 2000’s Resident Evil – Code: Veronica.
As for Kawata’s statement, a recent rumor has indicated that Resident Evil 4 Remake has sold over 16 million copies since its 2023 release, making it the most successful remake in the franchise so far. Analysts have estimated that it generated $560 million in revenue, which likely aided in the development of games like Pragmata and the upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword.
