During a wider feature as part of this month’s issue of Game Informer, Capcom senior producer Masachika Kawata explained why the company has been focusing on creating remakes of past Resident Evil titles versus creating spinoffs. While new installments in the series have been peppered throughout the last generation, Capcom has essentially made Resident Evil a yearly franchise now. Because of that, remakes are a great way to fill in the gaps, not to mention allow the dev team time to hone its craft for the next major release.
“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,” Kawata explains. “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.” He mentions that remakes aren’t a lower priority because of this, but that they allow Capcom to have something available for customers while working on the next mainline installment. The revenue from the remakes has also been put back into new IP such as Pragmata.
As for why Capcom isn’t doing spinoffs for Resident Evil anymore, it’s merely a matter of not spreading resources too thinly. “Maybe there are a lot of people out there who would like to see more spinoff titles or such,” Kawata says, “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.” That’s understandable, especially with how many games Capcom has released in the last few years.
Resident Evil isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Requiem released earlier this year to rave reviews, and 2027 will see the release of Resident Evil Veronica, a remake of Code Veronica that takes place after RE2. Rumors have suggested that both RE0 and the original game are due for remakes, while the existence of Resident Evil 4’s own remake suggests that 5 will eventually materialize.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
