Since it passed eight million sales last July, sales have clearly slowed down. However, the franchise, with an eye-watering 218 million cumulative sales, excels in the long term. Capcom is banking on this, which explains why it’s taking its time with the upcoming story expansion.

Rumored to feature Leon as the main character (and Ada Wong in some role), its scope reportedly expanded following Requiem’s success. While this allegedly helps the company fill the gap between major releases, it’s clearly to rejuvenate sales down the line. We’ve seen this with Resident Evil Village’s Winters’ Expansion and Resident Evil 4’s Separate Ways, the latter more successful than the former in that regard.

While Capcom has yet to reveal anything about the expansion, screenwriter Haris Orkin recently said it would focus on Oswell E. Spencer. Despite being deceased, the Umbrella Corp co-founder has a significant impact on events. You can read more about what we think might happen here, but either way, Resident Evil Requiem is only just getting started.

While the publisher didn’t offer further details, it revealed that Onimusha’s total franchise sales had risen to 11 million. That’s still on the low end, below Marvel vs Capcom and above Okami, but since Way of the Sword is the first new entry in over 20 years, it could be a renaissance for the series.

One would certainly hope so, considering the sheer amount of work that’s gone into the title, from its animations to the dismemberment system. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. Check out our review here, where we scored it an 8.

If you haven’t tried it yet, a free demo is live on all platforms. Capcom updated it before the game’s launch with new content, including a new boss. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the exact missions, but it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the combat. You can also use the save data to unlock the Kubi Akarai charm for some benefits.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, director Satoru Nihei said, “Starting the project six years ago, we felt it was important to have that detail to sell the power and the excitement of the action, so it’s something we really focused on.”

“Even at that starting point, we knew it was something that Capcom, as a company, have as a great strength: We have a lot of assets and tech available to us that allow us to create these varieties of actions. That’s something we really felt we could leverage to make the game really stand out that a lot of other places can’t really copy.

“On top of producing a lot of animations and motion capture, we have to give a lot of credit to the programmers for taking that data and putting it in a form that we can have them make these very smooth transitions, with these physics-based calculations, to go from one animation to another. It was a big team effort in getting the animations to look how they do.”

Of course, Nihei and the team are particularly proud of the dismemberment system. It’s one of those features that it couldn’t do before, so seeing it come out so well, especially after such a long development period, is great.

“If you slash enemies with certain attacks, they get cut in the exact path that a sword passes through. While that’s something that has been done in the past in other games, one of the challenges and things we built on that was brand new with Onimusha was having that happen along with enemies still being animated as they’re dying and dropping.

“In lots of other games you’d cut them, they’d kind of freeze when you do the cut and then fall apart. We had to have the programmers add to RE Engine to be able to enable that to really sell the impact of moves like the Issen. That was something brand new added to the engine.”

For those who have only played games like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which also features a dismemberment system, Way of the Sword is a huge contrast because you don’t have such extensive slicing freedom. Interestingly, Nihei and the team took this into account.

“In other games where you have that ability to cut up anything—just because of the tempo and style of game we wanted to make, it wasn’t something we considered for Onimusha. Choosing exactly which direction and how you want to cut, we didn’t think it was a good match for this particular title. Rather, we wanted to have something that happened reactively to how you’re playing, to show off the power of the abilities.”

The results speak for themselves, as Onimusha: Way of the Sword sold over one million copies on its first day. It also garnered strong critical acclaim with an 85 Metascore based on 104 reviews. You can check out our thoughts here. We scored it an 8, with the biggest highlights being the combat, boss fights, and Musashi’s characterization, even though the exploration and world design (especially in the hub areas) could have used a bit more work.

Along with this, deeper information for around 43 accounts was also affected by the data breach, revealing an account’s date of birth, gender, country/region, and nickname. 196 accounts also saw changes made to the passwords for their Capcom ID accounts. While the company has said that the change attempts for these passwords have since been reset, it is continuing its investigation to figure out the true scope of the data breach.

So far, Capcom has also stated that passwords that were created by Capcom ID users themselves haven’t been impacted by the data breach, along with details about credit cards that were linked to the account. Services for multiplayer games like Street Fighter 6 are also not expected to be affected in any way.

In the meantime, the company has reported the data breach to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission and the Osaka Prefectural Police, and users have been told that they can continue to use the email addresses as they had been doing in the past. “If you receive any suspicious email or message, please exercise caution and refrain from accessing any URLs contained therein or opening any attached files.”

On the subject of the severity of this data breach, Capcom has said that it initiated its emergency response measures, and as a result, has “identified and addressed the attack method involved in this incident.” The company went on to note that it “takes this matter extremely seriously and will continue its detailed investigation.”

“Based on the findings of the investigation, it will implement measures to prevent recurrence and further strengthen its information security framework. Should any additional facts requiring disclosure be identified, Capcom will promptly provide updates through the company’s official website and other appropriate channels.

“Capcom would once again like to express its sincere apologies to its customers and all other stakeholders.”

As for whether or not you even have a Capcom ID, making an account on the service is important for anyone who wants to engage in the multiplayer options in titles like Street Fighter 6 and Monster Hunter Wilds. Along with this, the company also manages cross-platform multiplayer across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 through the system. While single-player games typically don’t require a Capcom account, titles like Dragon’s Dogma 2, which use network services for things like sharing pawns, will likely have involved the player making an account for the service.

Capcom has wrapped up its releases for 2026 with titles like Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen all having been well received by players and critics alike.

Having joined Capcom in 2007 before making his way up the corporate ladder, Conti discussed the more action-oriented approach taken by Resident Evil 5 and 6, and noted that the two titles wouldn’t be made without Code: Veronica first setting up the stage. In fact, he said that there is a direct throughline from Code: Veronica to Resident Evil 5 and 6.

“Everyone always mentions the first 3 RE games, and they seem to forget about Code Veronica. There is a direct line from CV to RE 5 and 6; CV is the game where the series went off the rails by trying to cram as many locales and plots as a Dreamcast disc could hold.” He went on to say that “many of the devs consider CV the best of the pre-RE4 titles.” However, he “would argue constantly that RE2 is much better.”

When taking a larger view of the entire franchise, it’s difficult to say that Conti is wrong about Code: Veronica having a large influence on future games in the franchise. The entire Resident Evil series is noted to have taken a more action-oriented gameplay approach over time, with Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 4 both marking different ways that Capcom could approach the genre.

He went on to note that even the opening cinematic for Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was “a straight-up Die Hard/John Woo pastiche and there’s nothing horror about it”, putting the title more in line with the action-oriented gameplay and atmosphere offered by Resident Evil 5 and 6. “No shade on CV fans, but seeing how it had a direct, negative development on the franchise means I am pretty biased against it. Take my bias with a grain of salt.”

Code: Veronica makes for an especially interesting subject of discussion since it manages to be forgotten even by fans of the Resident Evil franchise despite the title having story elements that would go on to shape the characters and personalities of both Redfield siblings. Some even go as far as to call it the “true” Resident Evil 3 over 1999’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

It is also worth noting that Capcom is looking to remedy this by making Code: Veronica its next target for a remake. Dubbed Resident Evil Veronica, the remake was unveiled earlier this year, and while Capcom hasn’t yet announced a proper release date for it, the company has said that it will be coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027.

In the meantime, take a look at what Conti has said about the development of Resident Evil 7. And while you’re at it, check out our review of the Nintendo Switch 2 release of the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes.

The Prologue Demo will include the early parts of Monster Hunter Wilds, giving players the explanation for why they are in the Forbidden Lands to begin with, and will allow them to experience some of the early-game hunts. Since it also allows for multiplayer gameplay, it is likely to include some optional hunts as well, giving players more chances to try out the 14 weapons and see what play style suits them best.

Capcom has gone through quite a bit of trouble to bring Monster Hunter Wilds over to the Nintendo Switch 2. When the title was first released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S last year, it was plagued with several technical issues. The company has since then released updates to sort these issues out, improving performance across all platforms in the process. Producer Genki Sunano has spoken about how the optimization process for the Nintendo Switch 2 version was “painstaking”.

“The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds was developed around the concept of delivering a natural Monster Hunter Wilds experience on Nintendo Switch 2. In other words, we didn’t want it to feel like a simple port, where the graphics or performance had merely been scaled down to make the game run on Nintendo Switch 2. Instead, our goal was to bring the Wilds experience to Nintendo Switch 2 without compromising the experience of Monster Hunter Wilds.”

The development team had to take a look at finer details of Monster Hunter Wilds to see what could be culled in order to improve the performance of the game on Nintendo’s platform.

“Wilds is packed with a tremendous number of elements, so we had to carefully evaluate the assets and underlying processing behind each one, determining what needed to be preserved and what could be adjusted without changing the overall experience. It was this painstaking, and at times seemingly endless, process of making decisions and optimizations one by one that proved to be one of our biggest challenges in delivering a comfortable handheld experience while preserving what makes Wilds feel like Wilds.”

In the meantime, Capcom is also working on an expansion for Monster Hunter Wilds, dubbed Ascendance, which will bring with it Master Rank difficulty quests, along with several additions to the game’s roster of monsters, and even the Boost Bracer, which brings in massive changes to the movesets of just about every weapon in the game. The expansion is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027, and director Takuro Hiraoka has promised that it will offer a balance of story and endgame challenges.

Conti also revealed that, in a previous iteration of Resident Evil 7, the company was taking cues from the Call of Duty franchise, and as such, the horror game’s story would have been marked by bombastic action and epic set pieces. The shooter franchise being known for its Zombies mode at the time may have played a role as well. However, having played The Last of Us, members of the development team decided to focus on the title’s narrative instead.

“It may surprise you to learn that the originally planned RE7 went through a few iterations. Instead of taking cues from CoD, they were all coming from The Last of Us, with even a mandate to focus on narrative, since that seemed like the only rationale to make single-player games anymore.”

Call of Duty was a likely choice to draw inspiration from for the Resident Evil franchise since the previous mainline entry – 2012’s Resident Evil 6 – was the best-selling game in the series at the time, and focused quite a bit more on action elements rather than the survival horror that the franchise was originally known for. With the 2017 release of Resident Evil 7, Capcom has entered what many consider to be a new golden era for the company thanks to back-to-back critically acclaimed games that have also gone on to sell quite well.

The strategy to focus on narrative ended up working quite well, and Resident Evil 7 would be followed up with Resident Evil Village, which would bring the story of Ethan Winters to an end. Most recently, the series told an entirely new story with Resident Evil Requiem, opting to go with dual protagonists – franchise veteran Leon S. Kennedy and newcomer Grace Ashcroft. The title went on to garner incredible amounts of critical acclaim, and has even managed to dominate the sales charts until relatively recently.

Looking forward, Capcom currently has an expansion for Resident Evil Requiem in development. However, the company hasn’t yet revealed any details about it. A new entry – Resident Evil Veronica – has also been confirmed, and is slated to be released in 2027. The title will be a remake of 2000’s Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, which fills in quite a few of the gaps in the overarching narrative when it comes to the whereabouts of Chris and Claire Redfield following the events of the first two Resident Evil games.

Capcom’s strategy of releasing remakes between major new entries in the Resident Evil franchise has also worked quite well, with Resident Evil 4 Remake being particularly noteworthy in how many copies it has sold since its 2023 release. For more details about these remakes, check out our review of their Nintendo Switch 2 versions. And in the meantime, take a look at our thoughts about Resident Evil Requiem’s planned expansion.

One small part of that continued initiative in recent months has been to bring Resident Evil’s biggest releases to new audiences with Switch 2 ports, and now, after impressive native ports for Nintendo’s hybrid device for both Resident Evil 7 and Village earlier this year (alongside, of course, Resident Evil Requiem’s day and date Switch 2 release), the developer has brought the trio of Resident Evil 2, 3, and RE4 Remakes to Nintendo’s platform- with (unsurprisingly so) similar results.

"One small part of that continued initiative in recent months has been to bring Resident Evil’s biggest releases to new audiences with Switch 2 ports"

By now, it should be no surprise that the Nintendo Switch 2 is more than capable of running (and running well) games that technically wowed us during the PS4 and Xbox One console generation- and so it’s no surprise that the aforementioned remake trio doesn’t face any significant issues either. That, of course, means that audiences can now experience (or re-experience) the modern survival horror classics on a whole new platform- which, given the flexibility in user experience the Switch 2 affords, is a massive plus.

There is, for starters, Resident Evil 2 of course- which, suffice it to say, is not only one of the best Resident Evil games ever game, but also a foundational survivor horror title in the modern era, and the perfect blueprint for what a reimagining of a beloved classic should hope to achieve.

When I first reviewed Resident Evil 2 back in 2019, I instantly fell in love with it and called it one of the best survival horror games ever made, and the years since done have done little to diminish my opinion of the game. Naturally, then, getting to experience what is probably my personal favourite Resident Evil game to date on the Switch 2 has been a wonderful experience for me, personally speaking- which also speaks a great deal about the quality of the port in question, in addition to the game itself.

"For newcomers and returning players both, Resident Evil 2’s Switch 2 version is a great way to experience the 2020 remake"

Leon and Claire’s nightmarish journey through Raccoon City and RPD has lost none of its luster, and it remains just as compelling on the Switch 2 as ever before. First and foremost, it touts absolutely incredible level design across some of Resident Evil’s most iconic locations, from the RPD building and Raccoon City’s sewers to Umbrella’s underground NEST lab and more.

All of that is bolstered in turn by spectacular combat, terrifying atmosphere, smartly design puzzles, heart-pounding boss fights, and of course, the near constant, pervasive threat of one of gaming’s most notorious stalker enemies ever in the Tyrant, aka Mr. X. For newcomers and returning players both, Resident Evil 2’s Switch 2 version is a great way to experience the 2020 remake, especially if you’re the sort of player who values the Switch 2’s portability.

Resident Evil 3’s port is equally successful at bringing the original experience over to Nintendo’s platform- which means it is a pleasantly solid port of what was ultimately a disappointing game. When I reviewed it in 2020, I called the Resident Evil 3 remake a solid action horror experience in its own right that was nonetheless a disappointing reimagining of the game that it was based on, and tat is something I very much stand by.

There’s a lot that I still love about 2020’s RE3. Jill Valentine is an incredible protagonist, and perhaps one of the iconic character’s best portrayals to date. Alongside her, Carlos Riveira serves as a great deuteragonist, while they’re also joined by a solid supporting cast. The star of the show is, of course, Nemesis, the relentless bioweapon who stalks Jill throughout the length of the story. From a storytelling perspective, Resident Evil 3 is, for the most part, a solid retelling of the original 1999 PS1 game that it reimagines.

Those strengths, however, are also some of its greatest weaknesses. The RE3 remake has been infamously divisive for how it cut out content and made controversial changes to the original PS1 title, and frankly, those disappointments are no easier to get over. The Clock Tower is MIA, Raccoon City isn’t as fully explorable as it should be, Nemesis isn’t the pervasive, unrelenting stalker threat that he was always supposed to be- and that’s just scratching the surface.

At the end of the day, even though Resident Evil 3 is a solid, brief, and enjoyable action horror game in its own right, it doesn’t live up to its potential the way it should have- and certainly doesn’t manage to match the highs of the Resident Evil 2 remake.

"The RE3 remake has been infamously divisive"

Then we have RE4 remake. Leon S. Kennedy’s harrowing mission to rescue Ashley Graham from the clutches of the enemies is as captivating as it ever has been, with tense action, adrenaline fueled boss fights, and all of the camp and corniness that we have come to expect from Resident Evil.

I’d also be remiss not to point out just how technically impressive these ports are. The developer has always been in the habit of putting out graphical megatons, and the Resident Evil series in general is no stranger to doing that, especially in the RE Engine era. Resident Evil 2, 3, and RE4 Remakes are all, in fact, among the most graphically and technically impressive games of the modern era- and impressively, the Switch 2 doesn’t struggle to host these staggering experiences.

Of course, they don’t look quite as good as they do on, say, the PS5 Pro, but RE2, 3, and RE4 Remakes are all visually striking experiences on the Switch 2. Resident Evil 2’s shocking gore effects don’t quite seem as gory, and RE4 Remake’s port has plenty of noticeable texture pop in and slow loading assets, but by and large, the Switch 2 does an admirable job of running these graphical beasts.

Since the Nintendo Switch 2’s release in 2025, the developer has made it abundantly clear that it intends to support the console the same way it supports others, and Resident Evil 2, 3, and RE4 Remakes ports are further proof of the company’s commitment to Nintendo’s hybrid device. Regardless of whether you’re a returning fan looking to dive back into the horror franchise’s remake offerings, or a newcomer looking for an entry point, you can’t go wrong with the Switch 2 versions of this trio of remakes.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

The remakes of the franchise’s second, third, and fourth installments are now available on the Switch 2 as digital titles for those of you interested in revisiting Raccoon City before it became a giant crater in the ground. It could also be your first time with these brilliant chapters in the franchise’s past, and if that’s the case, all we can tell you is to strap in and enjoy the wild ride each one takes you on. Now is a great time to dive into the franchise, especially with its latest instalment crossing 8 million copies sold.

For our part, we think it’s a nice method of managing the wait for Requiem’s story expansion that’s allegedly out next year, or Resident Evil Veronica, which is confirmed for 2027 (even if it may arrive a little later than originally rumored). The trailer’s below if you want a closer look, even if it is relatively short.

Best of all, there’s support for local play, making it easier to team up with friends who also own a Switch 2. If you’re fully convinced by the performance (which the development team said was “painstaking” to achieve), digital pre-orders go live on the same day.

Monster Hunter Wilds is out on December 4th for the console, though you can play it now on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s probably worth waiting until Ascendance, its paid expansion, launches in 2027. A release date has yet to be announced, but it’s confirmed to feature the Skybound Eyrie as a new locale and Master Rank Quests.

While it features newcomers like Araketa and Gundoraja, the new Elder Dragon, you can also expect series regulars like Kushala Daora, Teostra and even Lao-Shan Lung to be a nuisance. Thankfully, the Boost Bracer should help even the odds. Check out what it can do with the Switch Axe, Gunlance, and Sword and Shield, among other weapons.