The Resident Evil 3 remake makes a surprising change to the character of Barry Burton. The change to Barry Burton's story is one of several big differences between the original game and the remake, as Capcom has also changed Jill Valentine and seems to have made her more confident in her abilities.
SPOILERS FOR RESIDENT EVIL 3 (2020) FOLLOW
Resident Evil fans enjoying the Resident Evil 3 remake today will see popular characters like Nemesis, Carlos, and Mikhail, but one character they won't see is Barry Burton. Barry Burton is a character who was seen in the first Resident Evil. The character was a part of the S.T.A.R.S team but moved his family to Canada at the end of the game. However, Burton makes a surprise return at the end of Resident Evil 3 as he comes back to save Jill and Carlos before Raccoon City is destroyed. This is just one possible Resident Evil 3 ending that players could get.
However, Barry Burton doesn't show up to save Jill and Carlos in the Resident Evil 3 remake. Capcom chose not to put multiple endings in the Resident Evil 3 remake, meaning that the ending is far different. In the remake, Carlos is held hostage by Nikolai and Jill has to rescue him so that they can escape from Raccoon City together. They are able to escape safely but there is no official reason why Capcom chose not to bring Barry Burton back.
One suggestion is that Capcom didn't want to alienate any new fans of the series. Those who are coming to the Resident Evil 3 remake with only a passing knowledge of the Resident Evil series, or those who may have only played the Resident Evil 2 remake, may not know who Barry Burton is. There will also be players of the first Resident Evil who didn't get the Barry Burton ending and won't care much about him coming back to save Jill and Carlos.
Another possibility is that Capcom wanted to show more of Carlos in the Resident Evil 3 remake. While fans like the character, Carlos isn't a big part of the Resident Evil series as he only stars in Resident Evil 3 and the Umbrella Chronicles.
It's unclear why Capcom wants to show more of Carlos and how this will affect other games in the series. There are rumors that Capcom will do something surprising with the Resident Evil game in 2021 and that could mean bringing back characters like Carlos, but nothing has been confirmed.
Resident Evil 3 is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.