Several months ago, Capcom released Resident Evil Village, which proved a critical and commercial success thanks to its return to the survival horror genre, immersive story, and memorable characters. Of course, given that most players have probably finished Resident Evil Village's main campaign, some are probably now wondering what's next for the series, and most importantly, whether Capcom is already working on Resident Evil 9.
As of this writing, Capcom still hasn't made an official announcement regarding the development of Resident Evil 9 and how it will drive the story forward. However, given the rumor that Resident Evil 9 will conclude the story presented in Resident Evil 7 and Village, should players expect the next installment to be released any time soon?
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As previously mentioned, Capcom still hasn't acknowledged that Resident Evil 9 is in development. However, industry insiders claim that the next mainline installment to the franchise has been in development as early as 2018. Additionally, it has been claimed that Resident Evil 9 will be the longest Resident Evil game to be in development at approximately 6-7 years. If these rumors are to be believed, players likely won't see Resident Evil 9 until 2024 or 2025.
As for what Resident Evil 9 would entail, the upcoming game will likely be a direct continuation of Resident Evil Village. However, players who have already beaten Resident Evil Village would know that its ending left several stones unturned, which could be further fleshed out in the upcoming game. Not to mention, a DLC expansion for Resident Evil Village is currently in development. While the story of the DLC is still being kept a mystery, it could very well set up the storyline for Resident Evil 9, similar to how Resident Evil 7's Not a Hero DLC served as a bridge to Resident Evil Village.
Assuming that Resident Evil 9 will indeed release sometime in 2024-2025, does this mean that players will have to wait for 3-4 years before having a new Resident Evil game? Apart from the announced Resident Evil Village DLC and the multiplayer game Resident Evil: Re Verse, other unannounced Resident Evil projects could fill the gap during Resident Evil 9's development.
One of those projects is the next Resident Evil remake, which is widely believed to be Resident Evil 4. Although Capcom still hasn't announced a new remake, the studio did survey its fanbase which Resident Evil game they want to be remade next, and industry insiders believe that it would be Resident Evil 4. For quite some time now, Resident Evil 4 has been rumored to be in development, and initially, leakers claim it may release in Q4 2022. However, notable Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem believes that Capcom wouldn't meet the 2022 deadline due to its developers working from home. So at the moment, insiders believe that Resident Evil 4 Remake might not be out until late 2023 or early 2024.
Apart from Resident Evil 4 Remake, another unannounced Resident Evil game is rumored to be in development. After Capcom's data breach last year, it was revealed that a game titled Resident Evil Outrage could be released sometime this fall. For the uninitiated, Resident Evil Outrage is alleged to be the third entry in the Revelations subseries that will see the return of Resident Evil 0's Rebecca Chambers. Unfortunately, since Resident Evil Outrage was a no-show at E3 2021, and Capcom hasn't made any announcements about it so far, it is assumed that the rumored game has been delayed to a later date.
In the end, while it is difficult to predict when exactly Resident Evil 9 will see the light of day, fans can rest easy that the game is going to happen, especially since Resident Evil continues to be one of Capcom's most popular franchises. As for now, Resident Evil fans can look forward to the upcoming DLC of Resident Evil Village and the multiplayer game Resident Evil Re: Verse, which was supposed to release alongside Village but was eventually delayed to next year.
Resident Evil 9 is rumored to be in development.
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Source: DuskGolem