Resident Evil Village might not technically have an “8” in its name, but Capcom have made it abundantly clear that it is the eighth mainline numbered entry in the series. For starters, it obviously has the roman numeral “VIII” in its logo, while Capcom have also mentioned on no few occasions that the game serves as a direct narrative sequel to Resident Evil 7. Now, according to new potential details dropped by an insider, that story is going to carry forward and conclude in another mainline numbered sequel, but following that, Capcom might start adopting different naming conventions for the series.
Known Resident Evil insider Dusk Golem (or AestheticGamer) recently took to Twitter and stated that Resident Evil 7, Village, and the upcoming 9 (which he has previously mentioned is already in development) have a single, connected story with a main arc running throughout all of them. The story for the trilogy was apparently mapped out collectively, supposedly since all three of their development cycles were so close to each other.
However, Dusk Golem goes on to add that Resident Evil 9 will likely be the final mainline numbered entry in the series, and Capcom will adopt a new naming convention. He suspects that this is being done so that Capcom can tell more focused and self-contained stories with a single game rather than having to plan out larger narrative arcs that span multiple games.
This is, of course, unverified information, and it’s talking about things that are way off in the future, which means nothing is set in stone yet. Dusk Golem has a solid track record when it comes to Resident Evil leaks, but either way, take this with a grain of salt for now.
Resident Evil 9 is still probably several years off though, and we’ve got plenty else to look forward to before that. Resident Evil Village launches on May 7 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.