The ninth chapter in the legendary franchise has arrived — and it may be the best one yet.
Capcom has done it again. Resident Evil Requiem, the long-awaited ninth mainline entry in the iconic survival horror series, has taken the gaming world by storm. From its dramatic reveal at Summer Game Fest to shattering franchise sales records within days of launch, Resident Evil Requiem is not just a new chapter — it is a defining moment for horror gaming. Whether you are a die-hard fan since the original Raccoon City days or a newcomer drawn in by the buzz, this deep-dive guide covers everything you need to know about Resident Evil Requiem, its story, gameplay, reception, DLC roadmap, and what lies ahead.
What Is Resident Evil Requiem?
Resident Evil Requiem — also referred to by fans as RE9 — is the ninth mainline installment in Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise. As per the official Capcom press release, the game was developed using the proprietary RE Engine and marks the very first mainline Resident Evil title designed exclusively for ninth-generation consoles: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
According to Wikipedia’s entry on the game, Resident Evil Requiem was announced in July 2024 during Capcom’s Next Summer broadcast, but its full reveal — including its title and a debut trailer — took place at Summer Game Fest on June 6, 2025. The game had a long and evolving development history: it was originally conceived as an open-world online multiplayer experience, but by 2021, the project had shifted significantly into the single-player survival horror format fans know and love.
Directing the project is Koshi Nakanishi, the same visionary behind the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7: Biohazard — a choice that immediately signaled Capcom’s intent to return the series to its terrifying roots while pushing it boldly forward.
The Story: Thirty Years After Raccoon City
One of the most emotionally resonant aspects of Resident Evil Requiem is its narrative foundation. According to Capcom’s official game description, the story unfolds approximately 30 years after the infamous outbreak that destroyed Raccoon City. A body surfaces at an abandoned hotel in the Midwest — the latest in a mysterious string of deaths across the United States. FBI intelligence analyst Grace Ashcroft is assigned to the case, only to discover she is being sent to the very place where her mother was murdered eight years prior.
As reported by The Cosmic Circus in their full review, the game’s central story arc places Grace at the intersection of personal trauma and a terrifying new bioterror conspiracy. She is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, the protagonist from the Resident Evil Outbreak series — a connection that gives her storyline deep emotional roots within franchise lore. The setting of the Wrenwood Hotel and the surrounding Midwest locations serve as haunting, atmospheric backdrops that are as oppressive as they are visually stunning.
The story does not stop there. As confirmed by Game Informer’s review, the game also reintroduces fan-favourite Leon S. Kennedy, the iconic DSO agent making his first major playable appearance in 14 years, having last starred in Resident Evil 6 back in 2012. Leon has been reimagined as an older, more reflective figure — world-weary but as capable as ever. According to The Cosmic Circus, Leon represents the generation that survived every catastrophe the franchise has thrown at the world, now forced to confront the long shadow those disasters continue to cast.
The dual-protagonist structure allows the narrative to explore two sides of the same crisis from vastly different emotional and tonal perspectives — a storytelling device that critics have widely praised as one of the game’s greatest strengths.
Gameplay: Two Characters, Two Worlds
Resident Evil Requiem stands apart mechanically from its predecessors by delivering two fundamentally different gameplay experiences within a single, cohesive campaign.
Grace Ashcroft: Survival Horror Redefined
According to PC Gamer’s review, Grace’s gameplay draws direct inspiration from the resource-scarce, tension-drenched design of Resident Evil 7. Players must manage limited inventory, carefully choose when to fight and when to flee, and stay hyper-alert in every darkened corridor. Grace begins the game with access to a powerful revolver called “Requiem” — a gift from Leon — but with only a single round, making every shot a calculated decision of life and death.
As described by Wall of Sound’s review, Grace is occasionally stalked by a massive creature known as “The Girl” — a threat that moves through walls and ceilings, can only be damaged in the presence of light sources, and echoes the terrifying pressure of Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 or Lady Dimitrescu from Village. Every creak, every echo, every drip of water becomes a source of dread. The reviewers at Wall of Sound specifically recommend playing Grace’s sections at night with headphones, calling it one of the most immersive horror experiences in recent gaming memory.
A standout new mechanic exclusive to Grace’s sections is the Blood Collector system, detailed extensively by Vice’s review. Players can extract blood specimens from downed enemies and use them to craft health items, ammunition, and weapons — including a powerful Hemolytic Injector capable of instantly eliminating elite enemies. This adds a layer of RPG-like strategy to encounters and rewards thorough, methodical exploration.
Leon S. Kennedy: Action Unleashed
In sharp contrast, Leon’s sections shift the experience into high-octane, third-person action territory. As described by Game Informer, once players take control of Leon, the tone transforms entirely — kicking down doors, wielding chainsaws, engaging in motorcycle chases, and delivering the series’ signature brand of outrageous, over-the-top combat. His hatchet enables skilled parrying in close combat, and enemy encounters, while still dangerous, reward aggression rather than evasion.
According to The Cosmic Circus, Leon’s gameplay style is deliberately designed to release the tension built up during Grace’s harrowing sequences, providing a rhythmic push-and-pull that keeps the overall pacing of the game engaging throughout its runtime.
The Dual-Perspective System
Both characters offer the option to play in first-person or third-person perspective — a first for the mainline series in this unified form. As noted by Wikipedia, this required the development of entirely separate animation sets for each perspective, with Grace’s animations specifically designed to convey fear: shaking hands when aiming, stumbling when chased, and subtle body language that reflects the “final girl” archetype of classic horror cinema.
According to data shared by PC Gamer, roughly 60% of players chose to experience Grace’s sections in first-person, while 40% opted for third-person — a split that speaks to how successfully Capcom designed both perspectives as genuinely compelling options.
A Shared World: The Same Rooms, Two Perspectives
One of the most celebrated design choices in Resident Evil Requiem — highlighted by Vice’s review — is that Grace and Leon navigate the same physical spaces at different points in the story. When players eventually take control of Leon and enter rooms Grace already explored, the evidence of her survival is everywhere: solved puzzles, open drawers, defeated enemies. This creates a profound sense of shared history and makes the world feel genuinely lived-in across both storylines.
Critical Reception: A Series High Point
The critical and commercial response to Resident Evil Requiem has been nothing short of extraordinary.
According to Metacritic, as referenced in reporting by The FPS Review, the game holds a Metascore of 89 out of 100, accompanied by a remarkable user score of 9.4 — placing it among the highest-rated entries in the entire franchise.
Game Informer called it “a masterclass in refinement, a tour de force of gameplay that arrives only after 30 years of lessons learned,” describing the game as their personal favourite Resident Evil to date.
PC Gamer stated that the game wraps up the best elements of previous entries into one package and declared it a “superb way to round off storylines,” comparing its replayability to Resident Evil 4.
Vice was equally effusive, calling it the best Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 4 and praising how Capcom managed the balance between introducing a compelling new protagonist in Grace while simultaneously wrapping up Leon’s long-running Umbrella narrative.
Wall of Sound highlighted the game’s zombies as the best in franchise history, noting that each enemy retains memories and personality traits from their pre-death lives — creating an entirely new dimension to both the horror and the tactical decision-making involved in dealing with them.
Even the Gamescom Awards 2025 recognized the game before its launch, with Resident Evil Requiem winning the most honours of any title at Europe’s largest gaming event, according to Capcom’s official press release.
Sales Records: The Fastest-Selling Resident Evil of All Time
The commercial performance of Resident Evil Requiem has been staggering, breaking franchise records at virtually every milestone.
As confirmed by Game Informer, director Koshi Nakanishi publicly announced that the game sold over 5 million copies within just five days of its February 27 launch — twice the pace of the Resident Evil 4 Remake in its opening window.
According to EGW News, this made Resident Evil Requiem the fastest-selling game in franchise history by a significant margin.
As reported by TechPowerUp, the game topped 6 million sales within its first three weeks.
Gaming Bible reported that by the end of April, cumulative sales had reached 7 million copies — a milestone that took Resident Evil Village an entire year to achieve after its launch.
In terms of platform breakdown in the United Kingdom, as noted by Gaming Bible, PlayStation 5 accounted for 54% of sales, PC on Steam for 36%, Xbox Series X|S for 6%, and Nintendo Switch 2 for 4%.
Additionally, as per Steam data referenced by The FPS Review, roughly 70% of Steam users have completed the main campaign — an exceptionally high completion rate that speaks to the game’s pacing and replayability.
DLC and Post-Launch Content: What’s Coming
Resident Evil Requiem’s post-launch content roadmap has been an active topic of discussion since the game’s launch.
Photo Mode (Free — Released Late March)
As confirmed by Game Informer, game director Koshi Nakanishi announced in a video message posted to official Resident Evil social channels on March 10 that a free photo mode update was coming. According to Gaming Bible, this arrived in late March, giving players the ability to capture and pose in-game screenshots across all platforms.
Mini-Game DLC (Free — Early May)
According to Gaming Bible, a free bonus mini-game update was confirmed for release in May, accessible only to players who have completed the main story. In an interview with Japanese outlet Den-fami Nico Gamer, as reported by MSN, director Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa hinted that players should complete the game during Japan’s Golden Week holiday window — running April 29 through May 6 — to be ready to play the mini-game upon its release shortly after.
Kumazawa described the mini-game as featuring “tough battles,” telling fans to “sharpen your tomahawk and wait.” While Capcom has not officially named the content, widespread community speculation, as noted by Gaming Bible, points toward the return of the beloved Mercenaries Mode — a time-based survival challenge that has featured prominently in previous franchise entries and would be a natural fit for Requiem’s dual-character combat system.
Story DLC (Paid — In Development)
The most significant post-launch announcement is the confirmation of a full story expansion. As reported by Game Informer, director Nakanishi’s March 10 video confirmed that additional story content is actively in production. In his words, the expansion will “delve deeper into the world of Requiem,” though he provided no title, release window, or platform details at that time.
As per Notebookcheck’s reporting from early May, an insider has denied a rumoured May release window for the story DLC, calling such a timeline unrealistic alongside the mini-game launch. Speculation within the community, as referenced by Notebookcheck, centres on potential roles for Leon Kennedy, Ada Wong, and even Alyssa Ashcroft — Grace’s mother — as a playable character in future content.
As noted by Laventino, based on Capcom’s precedent with Resident Evil 7 and Village, paid story DLC has historically been priced between $14.99 and $19.99. Fans speculate a bundled expansion — combining story content and Mercenaries mode — could arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.
Platform Availability
Resident Evil Requiem is currently available on:
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X|S
- PC (Steam and Epic Games Store)
- Nintendo Switch 2
According to Capcom’s press release, the Nintendo Switch 2 version was not originally planned, as the hardware had not been officially revealed when development began. As per producer Masato Kumazawa at the Tokyo Game Show 2025, the team was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly the game ran on Nintendo Switch 2 hardware after successful prototype tests, ultimately deciding to bring it to the platform at launch alongside the other versions.
A limited Resident Evil Requiem-themed Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller was also launched alongside the game, as confirmed by Nintendo and Capcom. Additionally, Grace and Leon amiibo figures are scheduled for release on July 30, according to the official Resident Evil website.
Development Background and Innovations
According to Wikipedia, facial and performance animations for Resident Evil Requiem were captured through an extensive motion capture process led by Imaginarium Studios, with Kate Saxon serving as performance director. Motion capture work began in 2023 and continued through 2025.
The unique technical challenge of supporting both first-person and third-person cameras across all character actions required entirely separate animation libraries — a feat that demonstrates the scale of ambition behind the project.
As per Wikipedia, the virus in Resident Evil Requiem introduces a new biological wrinkle: those infected retain their memories from life. This narrative and mechanical detail is central to much of the game’s most creative enemy design, puzzle construction, and emotional storytelling, as described in Game Informer’s review.
Why Resident Evil Requiem Matters
Resident Evil Requiem represents a convergence of everything the series has learned over three decades. It brings together the psychological, resource-driven terror of Resident Evil 7, the beloved action rhythms of Resident Evil 4, the atmospheric world-building of Village, and the franchise’s deep well of lore — and synthesises them into what many critics are calling the most complete Resident Evil experience ever made.
As Game Informer eloquently put it, the game is “in commanding conversation” with what Resident Evil means as a franchise — the horror, the action, the characters, the lore, all harmonised into something that feels both like a love letter to fans and a powerful statement about where the series is going next.
With a story DLC actively in production, a mini-game expansion imminent, and community enthusiasm at an all-time high, Resident Evil Requiem is not just a landmark release — it is the beginning of a new era for survival horror.
Ready to survive Raccoon City again? Resident Evil Requiem is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.