As part of its plans, Capcom wants to make more use of the franchises its own with content outside of games, like the Devil May Cry animated adaptation, new amusement equipment, and arcade operations, among other things. Along with this, the company is also making use of pricing strategies and catalogue sales to further boost awareness of its games so that it can then make new entries.

Interestingly, while franchises like Dead Rising and Dragon’s Dogma are also included in its presentation slide, some of the company’s older IPs, like the classic Breath of Fire RPG franchise, fighting game series Darkstalkers, or dinosaur-themed survival horror franchise Dino Crisis, seemingly remain missing from these plans.

Capcom COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto had previously spoken about bringing these classic franchises back, while also maintaining a focus on the company’s trio of core IPs – Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter.

“To improve our chance of success, we are working to resolve business challenges, issue by issue,” wrote Tsujimoto in his statement. “Our efforts are focused on core IP such as the Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Street Fighter franchises, and mapping out mainline series entries and sequels, remakes, new IP, and ports of content to the latest hardware. We consistently release two to three major new titles each year, but recognize the need to grow our pipeline going forward.”

“Capcom owns a wealth of globally popular brands, such as Mega Man, Devil May Cry, and Ace Attorney. We aim to expand our user base and improve our performance through new releases, remakes, and ports of titles in these series to new hardware. By enhancing brand power and cultivating loyal fan bases, we will grow these into core IPs.”

The last entry in the Devil May Cry franchise was 2019’s Devil May Cry 5, which saw the franchise return after an 11-year break, not counting 2013’s DmC: Devil May Cry, following up on 2008’s Devil May Cry 4. The newest entry picked up where its predecessor left off, bringing back Nero as one of the playable characters alongside Dante, as well as introducing a brand new character, V, who plays an integral role in the story. The title also got a Special Edition upgrade that brought in Vergil as a playable character, complete with his own moveset and iconic theme song.

Okami, on the other hand, is getting a new game. However, according to Clovers president and CEO Kento Koyama, this new game is “still a ways off”.

“Although the release is still a ways off, we cannot wait to get the finished game into your hands,” he said in a New Year’s message. “We will continue to work tirelessly this year to deliver an experience that surpasses the expectations of players all over the world.”

And we finally got it with Leon Must Die Forever. Compared to the free Photo Mode, this is an actual mini-game – something for players to sink their teeth into. With all the rumors about the first story expansion focusing on Leon (and featuring Ada Wong in some form), it felt like the perfect way for players to pass the time. Besides, Mercenaries and Raid Mode are some of the most beloved extra modes from the developer. What’s not to love?

Well, Leon Must Die Forever isn’t exactly either of those modes, and arguably not as long-lasting, but we’ll get to that. The first thing to note is that there’s only one playable character – Leon S. Kennedy. It makes sense given the focus on him – the mode is named after him, for crying out loud – and for much of the action in Requiem’s campaign, he was the guy. The man with the most in terms of weapons, ammo, and fancy melee attacks to destroy anything in his way.

This worked extremely well with the dichotomy of having to control Grace, whose experience was more akin to the classic Resident Evil survival horror. I don’t doubt that Leon by himself could work in a Mercenaries-style mode, but structurally, this isn’t the same.

Leon Must Die Forever is a rogue-like, plain and simple. You load in, armed with a single firearm, and start shooting zombies in familiar stages from the campaign, like the first level as Leon, where he’s battling foes on the rainy street as civilians run away. Actually, it’s pretty much exactly like that, which is curious.

Slaying them doesn’t grant extra time – instead, you’ll need to shoot the glowing spiders crawling around for the same. They’ll drop ammo and other items, which can also be scavenged from nearby crates. You can also find special military-issued crates with weapons, gradually working your way up to a formidable arsenal. Much like the campaign, however, there’s limited space in the attache case, so you’ll need to prioritize keeping or dropping some weapons.

Once you’ve cleared out enough enemies, you can interact with a small sign and go to the next stage. Yes, just like that – there’s no cutscene or natural flow between stages. Just select the stage on the fancy flowchart, with Slay the Spire-style branching depending on the level of difficulty, and you load in with some text-on-screen.

Of course, there is a hook to all this, and it involves unlocking Enhancers for Leon. Every time he levels up, he can choose three options – kind of like those Survivors-style games – and choose to increase the damage of different weapon types. Occasionally, you’ll run into options which grant a damage boost based on the number of empty slots in your case, so ditching everything else and sticking with a single handgun while hoarding ammo becomes a viable strategy. Or, heck, go full melee, especially with enhancers like Proximity Boost, which increases your attack power against enemies within 10 feet by 60 percent but decreases it by 40 percent if you’re further away.

If you don’t like the options available, there’s a Shuffle option available. Some special zombies will pop up, requiring successful parries to deal damage. Rinse and repeat until you reach a boss, then eventually go up against the end boss (which is who you would expect).

And that’s pretty much it. You can unlock some cosmetics, like a goofy hat for Leon that’s essentially his Porsche. But if it weren’t obvious already, there are a lot of problems, starting with the fact that this isn’t Mercenaries. In fact, it feels more like a remixed version of the campaign with rogue-like elements, perhaps meant for those who want to experience similar levels and boss fights without actually having to replay the game.

The problem in both cases is that (a) it lacks some of the most memorable set pieces, like Grace desperately trying to fight out of a meat grinder scenario or Leon’s motorcycle shenanigans, and (b) it doesn’t even let you freely select the bosses. For the latter, a proper boss rush would have been far better.

The development team never promised Mercenaries, so fair play to them. But when this is what you’re offering instead, it’s a given that players will expect more. Also, trying to throw in a timer which doesn’t even extend by taking out zombies unless you unlock an upgrade makes this feel so much more blasé. It effectively removes any sense of tension, if the looping repetitive music didn’t already do that for you.

One could compare this to a lite version of the Raid Mode from Resident Evil Revelations, and that’s certainly one way to put it. That mode had multiple playable characters, each with unique abilities, passives and cosmetics. Even if the developer didn’t want to factor in Grace and “ruin” her survival horror fantasy in the campaign, there were plenty of other potential candidates. You could have had Sherry running around, or Xeno unleashing his abilities on the hordes. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t enough time to rig those animations or design enhancers that would make sense for their playstyles. After all, it would be weird if Sherry had a hatchet and Leon’s parrying prowess.

But that’s not all that makes this come across like some hastily put-together mode. Because many of Leon’s classic one-liners are in the cutscenes – and they’re clearly absent here – you’ll be hearing him say he’s “sick of this” a lot. Like a LOT. Non-cutscene story dialogue remains in certain places, which makes the final boss that much weirder and further reinforces the whole “remixed campaign” allegations. There are no new Achievements or Trophies.

Even if you’re approaching this as a pure rogue-like experience, there’s not a whole lot of variety. Layouts and enemy types are mostly the same throughout, and even the potential builds aren’t as extensive as you would think. Having multiple characters with different passives and maybe some unique weapons could have helped, but the basic foundation of Leon Must Die Forever just feels too simple.

Of course, if there’s one consolation, it’s that the tab says “Extra Games.” Maybe there are other such mini-games in the works, potentially to be added with the first story expansion. I still wouldn’t get my hopes up for some kind of Mercenaries or Raid Mode, but you never know.

For what it’s worth, Leon Must Die Forever is what it is – a free mini-game that’s fun for a few runs while you chase a high score. It’s perfect for those who want to get in and start blasting as Leon without thinking too much about the plot, any extraneous build-crafting or sense of flow. From that perspective, it’s well enough, but it could have been so much more, and at this point, you can’t really blame fans for expecting as much given the heights this genre is capable of.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

While it’s no Mercenaries mode, there are five difficulties, and you’ll still need to beat the clock. Easier said than done when tougher enemies abound, but by taking them down, you can fill the enhancement gauge and unlock one of three abilities to add to your loadout. There’s certainly a rogue-like element to it as the options change with each run.

One of those even sees Leon enhanced in a purple glow with red eyes, hatchet in a zombie’s neck, his bloodlust seemingly unsatisfied. Suffice it to say that combat fans will find plenty to love about this update.

Other notable additions include the DualSense’s adaptive triggers, haptic feedback and motion sensor working on PC alongside various bug fixes. Capcom also wants to remind you that the series’s first amiibos, Grace Ashcroft (sadly missing from this new mode) and Leon, will be available on July 30th for Nintendo Switch 2.

Resident Evil Requiem is also available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It’s sold seven million copies since launching on February 28th. Check out our review here.

Who would’ve thought that exploring a growing bond between a world-weary human and an AI-controlled droid could have turned out the way it did? Well, two million clearly think that there’s something to it, and the game’s sales have showcased a strong reception to its unique premise and innovative combat.

While a chunk of the first million of its sales, made two days after its release, might be attributed to excitement and hype around the release of a new IP from Capcom, the next million is definitely a noteworthy achievement, especially since it doesn’t require hours upon hours of your time. It’s going to be exciting to see where the franchise goes from here.

Short, sweet, and full of personality, Pragmata certainly takes after one of its protagonists, and the gaming world is happy to give it the recognition it deserves. For more details, check out our review, where we gave it a nine out of ten. It’s available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Talking about the role zombies tend to play in horror media, Nakanishi noted that the undead creatures represent “this terrifying idea that they were once human, but they’re not anymore. And seeing that reflected back on the person is what makes it scarier than just a monster that was never related to a human being. But we’ve seen so many zombies over the years that if we can’t make them do something a little out of the ordinary or unpredictable, then they start to become more difficult to make consistently scary.”

Keeping this desire to make its zombies more unique, the team behind Resident Evil Requiem decided to tap into the idea that the creatures might be “slightly more human,” which in turn further helps make the entire environment feel creepier.

“It’s creepier to see that they’re slightly more human in the sense that they’re repeating certain actions,” explained Nakanishi. “It almost looks like you could go up to them and talk to them and ask them what’s happening. But of course, they wouldn’t be able to reply. And that unsettlingness of them being almost human, but not quite, is something we wanted to use as the core of making them scary this time around.”

Kumazawa chimes in by also bringing up parts of Resident Evil Requiem that are suspiciously lacking in zombies. These moments tend to add to the tension that players might be feeling, since they can never be sure about where the zombies might pop out from.

“It can be scarier in scenes where there aren’t any zombies yet. Because the tension of not knowing where they’re going to come from, or if they’re going to appear at a particular moment, can be scarier than the specific moment you actually encounter a zombie. So that pacing of when to introduce a zombie into a scene or into a section of the game is really important; I think maintaining that tense fear throughout is what I’d say is scarier to me than just a jump scare or having constant threats.”

All of this was thought up by Capcom as part of the early design process for Resident Evil Requiem, which essentially revolved around re-examining the concept of fear. Noting that there are plenty of horror games in the world that do a good job of scaring players, Nakanishi said that the balance between fear and catharsis offered by Resident Evil Requiem is the franchise’s entire essence.

“There are obviously other horror games out there that try and induce a sense of fear in the player. So I think Resident Evil‘s essence is the balance between the feeling of intense pressure from handling horror situations and the catharsis you get from being able to survive them and also fight back against them.”

Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more, read our review.

On the subject of starting out with the concept of fear, Nakanishi went on to discuss how Requiem is also able to strike a balance between its horror elements and giving players some catharsis with action elements.

“There are obviously other horror games out there that try and induce a sense of fear in the player,” he explained. “So I think Resident Evil‘s essence is the balance between the feeling of intense pressure from handling horror situations and the catharsis you get from being able to survive them and also fight back against them.”

“I think our starting point always has to be, as a team, defining the type of horror we’re seeking to achieve with a particular title,” Nakanishi continued. “Because if we don’t have a clear vision for that in mind from the start of [development], then it’s very difficult to structure and design the rest of the game around it as a core.”

Nakanishi also went on to discuss whether a game in the franchise could even be considered a Resident Evil title if it didn’t include elements of survival horror along with action.

“I don’t know if it’s for me personally to define what is Resident Evil, but I can say with confidence that if we did make a game that was only one or the other, that there’d be a lot of fans who probably wouldn’t accept it as a Resident Evil game,” he said.

On the subject of Requiem’s success, Kumazawa said that the reaction from players has been quite exciting for Capcom, especially for later parts of the game, which involve Leon S. Kennedy revisiting Raccoon City.

“It was a really great thing,” Kumzwa says, via translator. “We were very happy to see the reaction of players around the world after the game launched. In particular, because we were very tight-lipped [before release] in order to maintain the surprise for players, especially about what happens after the return to Raccoon City. So watching people’s streams and clips and online reactions… we felt not only pleased they were enjoying it, but relieved our strategy was right to try and save that for them.”

In the same interview, Kumazawa was also asked about Resident Evil Requiem being part of Nvidia’s DLSS 5 showcase in March. While he didn’t address the controversy directly, he did note that the fact that fans of the game were passionate about the character design for Grace Ashcroft was a great thing for Capcom.

“The fact a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn’t want to see it changed was a positive,” he said. “It meant we got the design right and points to the fact that Grace quickly established herself as a fan favorite, that people had such strong opinions on her design.”

Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more, take a look at how there was a “phantom Chapter 2” for the game that was ultimately cut out.

“The fact a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn’t want to see it changed was a positive,” he said. “It meant we got the design right and points to the fact that Grace quickly established herself as a fan favorite, that people had such strong opinions on her design.”

When it came to aging up characters, as we saw with Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil Requiem, game director Koshi Nakanishi said that Capcom doesn’t have a “cast iron rule” about characters growing older with each entry. This means that, with younger characters, Capcom doesn’t “feel the need to replace [its most recognisable faces] with younger characters… we don’t really think of it in those terms.”

“I mean, I think Leon is really appealing in his current form,” he said. “And who knows, we could bring him back when he’s 70, and I’m sure he’ll still be a great character.”

Unfortunately, however, neither Kumazawa nor Nakanishi addressed the controversial transformations Grace’s face went through at the hands of Nvidia’s DLSS 5 technology directly.

As soon as Nvidia had showcased the technology, it attracted quite a bit of criticism, thanks in large part to just how many changes were made to Grace’s character design. This included changing up her face’s bone structure and even applying makeup to an FBI agent who is on her way to investigate a series of murders.

Among the critics of the technology was Noclip’s Danny O’Dwyer, who said that DLSS 5 was turning “everyone into yassified, looks-maxed freaks.” RPGSite’s Alex Dondaldson also took to social media to call the effect “uncanny & weird.” He went on to write, “I wonder how much devs can get in and tweak the model to their artistic intent.”

A report from later on in the month indicated that developers from Capcom and Ubisoft found out about DLSS 5 at the same time as the rest of the world, and that they hadn’t been told about their games being part of Nvidia’s showcase. “We found out at the same time as the public,” said a Ubisoft developer. Capcom’s developers were noted as being particularly shocked, since the company was described as being quite “anti-AI” for game development.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has defended DLSS 5, and when it came to comparisons with “AI slop” he noted that the technology wasn’t really comparable to images generated through the use of generative AI tools.

“I think their perspective makes sense and I can see where they’re coming from, because I don’t love AI slop myself,” said Huang on the subject of backlash against DLSS 5. “You know, all of the AI-generated content increasingly looks similar, and they’re all beautiful. So, I’m empathetic towards what [critics] are thinking.”

Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Check out our review for more details.

Nakanishi brought up comparisons with 2017’s Resident Evil 7, which also featured a chapter that was cut from the game before its release. “Up to now, I’ve talked in interviews about how Resident Evil 7 had a ‘phantom Chapter 2’ that got cut during development,” he said (via machine translation). “It was supposed to be the section where you move from the guest house to the main house.”

A similar “phantom chapter” in Resident Evil Requiem was cut when, during the process of development, the studio decided to tighten up the game’s overall structure. “Actually, Resident Evil Requiem had its own ‘phantom Chapter 2’ as well,” he explained. “As we lock down the structure of the game, we go through a pretty intense process of deciding things like, ‘Let’s push this scene further back,’ ‘Let’s just cut this entirely,’ or ‘Let’s add something different here.'”

“It’s not like we suddenly remove things at the very end of development, of course. More often, we build a rough version early on and keep revising it over and over. And in that process, it’s actually pretty common for an entire chapter to get cut.”

As one might expect, cutting out entire scenes or chapters might lead to some of the game’s developers getting upset, since they would have worked hard on those parts. However, according to Nakanishi, “as long as the result is good, everyone is satisfied.”

Where this “phantom Chapter 2” would have fallen in the Resident Evil Requiem timeline is difficult to nail down, since the title features pretty solid pacing from start to end. The survival horror game puts players in the shoes of two distinct protagonists—the returning Leon S. Kennedy and newcomer Grace Ashcroft. While the latter’s sequences involve survival horror elements similar to the earlier titles in the Resident Evil franchise, the latter focuses more on action in the vein of Resident Evil 4 Remake. The game has also been structured to allow players to explore many environments with both characters, with one often experiencing the aftermath of the other having passed through.

Nakanishi has also spoken about the minigame that Capcom has been working on for Resident Evil Requiem, noting that it will be single-player and “based on the battles in the main game.” He described it as being made “for those who have cleared the main story and are thinking, ‘I still haven’t had enough fun!’, I think you’ll be able to enjoy this and go ‘Whoa!!’, so sharpen your tomahawk and wait.”

Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more details, check out our review. Also, take a look at its recent sales milestone, which led Capcom to revise its revenue forecast for the financial year ending on March 31st.

Among other things, Nakanishi has confirmed that the minigame will be single-player and will be “based on the battles in the main game.” He goes on to note that (via machine translation), “for those who have cleared the main story and are thinking, ‘I still haven’t had enough fun!’, I think you’ll be able to enjoy this and go ‘Whoa!!’, so sharpen your tomahawk and wait.”

Nakanishi’s statement is a strong indicator that this minigame will be quite action-oriented in terms of its gameplay, and the mention of Leon S. Kennedy’s hatchet also indicates that it will revolve around him in some way, lending further credence to speculations about it being Mercenaries mode. Kumazawa went on to confirm that, once released, the minigame will only be accessible to those who have finished the base game. Interestingly, however, he noted that Japanese gamers could find Golden Week to be the ideal time to wrap up the story to unlock the minigame right on time.

“This mini-game is content that is unlocked after clearing the main story,” he said. “So, if you’re planning to play it, clearing the main story during Golden Week would be just right for you to be able to play it.”

Golden Week is a yearly period of a few days in Japan where four national holidays tend to line up, potentially giving citizens up to 12 days’ worth of holidays. This year’s Golden Week will kick off on April 29th and will end on May 6th. Kumazawa’s statement might indicate that the update will be released shortly after the holiday period comes to an end.

While the duo was more playful about teasing the upcoming minigame, when it comes to discussing the planned story DLC for Resident Evil Requiem, they were both quite tight-lipped. When asked about how development has been going on the DLC, Nakanishi responded by saying that, “Regarding the additional story DLC, at this stage all I can say is that it’s ‘currently under development,’ so please look forward to it. However, development of the mini-games is nearing completion.”

Rumors have indicated that the story DLC will primarily focus on one of Requiem‘s two protagonists, Leon. According to insider/leaker Dusk Golem, there have been mentions of a Leon-focused DLC shortly after the game hit its 5 million sales milestone. Previous reports had indicated that the DLC would instead focus on the mother of the second protagonist, Grace—Alyssa Ashcroft.

Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. More recently, Capcom announced that it had sold 7 million copies of the survival horror game. This milestone has also led the company to raise its earnings forecast for the financial year. For more, check out our review.

Leading up to its earnings call to report on revenue during the financial year ending on March 31, 2026, Capcom has revised its net sales forecast to be ¥195.3 billion (approximately $1.2 billion), up from the previously set forecast of 190 billion (approximately $1.19 billion). This represents a variance of 2.8 percent, and the previous year saw Capcom reporting ¥169 billion (approximately $1 billion).

For its operating profit, Capcom is expecting to make ¥75 billion, up from its previous forecast of ¥73 billion. Ordinary profits are going up to ¥74.1 billion from ¥70 billion. With these revisions, the company is expecting each Capcom share to make ¥130.29 million, up from ¥121.93 million from its original forecasts.

In a statement, Capcom noted that Resident Evil Requiem‘s “broad acclaim” has led to older titles seeing a boost in sales as well. The company’s other divisions, including arcade machines and other entertainment gear, have also been doing well.

“In our core Digital Contents business, in addition to Resident Evil Requiem (the latest title in the Resident Evil series that was released in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026) being met with broad acclaim globally, sales grew for catalog titles from major series due to their steady popularity,” said Capcom. “Additionally, Arcade Operations, Amusement Equipments, and Other Businesses all performed favorably.”

Capcom announced earlier this month that Resident Evil Requiem had sold 7 million copies since its February release across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The announcement was made by director Koshi Nakanishi through an Instagram post that showed the developers partying to celebrate the milestone.

Looking closer at specific markets, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella had revealed that Resident Evil Requiem has gone on to become one of the five best-selling games in the entire franchise in the US. The only titles ahead of it in terms of sales at this point are Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village, and the original Resident Evil 4.

In the meantime, Resident Evil Requiem has been the subject of quite a bit of speculation, with a recent datamine indicating that we might see the return of the franchise’s beloved Mercenaries mode. While Capcom has said that it will add a new mini-game to the survival horror title, the company hasn’t outright confirmed whether or not it will be Mercenaries so far. The datamine revealed ten tracks that weren’t used anywhere in the base game. Some of the tracks are also high-tempo, which would indicate that they might be meant as background music for Mercenaries.

For more details about Resident Evil Requiem, check out our review.