Resident Evil 9 Requiem director Kōshi Nakanishi has claimed that the new game is the “most extreme” entry in the long-running series.
Resident Evil 9 Requiem was announced in June and the “new era of survival horror” will launch February 27, 2026. “Technological advancements combined with the development team’s depth of experience combine in a story with rich characters and gameplay that’s more immersive than ever before,” said a statement from developers.
The single-player adventure will see players take control of new protagonist Grace Ashcroft as they return to Racoon City, 30 years after the events of Resident Evil 2. “While survival horror takes centerstage, Resident Evil Requiem will feature high-stakes cinematic action that will take the series in a bold new direction.”
Requiem will see director Kōshi Nakanishi return to the franchise. Speaking to Eurogamer, he said he took “the same approach” to this game as he did with the fan-favourite Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. “There’s really this graph of tension and release throughout the game, building up to a climax. That’s something that I think Resident Evil is really unique with among horror games. We don’t just scare you – we offer you a chance to release that tension by overcoming it all.”
“We’re at the testing phase now and even as we play it internally, putting ourselves in the mindset of the players – I really feel that it’s going to be an incredible rollercoaster,” he continued. “They’re going to feel like that curve of tension to release is going to be… it’s perhaps the most extreme gap between those two axes. The points on that curve are going to be so far apart from each other that it’s going to be incredible.”
Earlier this year, Nakanishi explained that new protagonist Grace Ashcroft is “introverted and easily scared, which is a new type of character for the Resident Evil series.”
“We wanted someone that experiences horror from the same perspective as the player. She learns to overcome her fears throughout the course of the story, but she’s also an analyst for the FBI who’s trained with guns, and is able to act with calm deductive reasoning,” he continued.
He also confirmed that Resident Evil 9 Requiem was originally conceived as an open-world, multiplayer experience but was later reworked into a single-player adventure. “In the end, although we had some interesting concepts, we realised that it wasn’t what fans wanted to see or play. So we went back to the drawing board and created what led to Resident Evil Requiem,” he explained.
In other news, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 creator Guillaume Broche has teased that an expansion for the game and a sequel are in the works.
