After months of endless rumors and speculation, Capcom finally confirmed the development of Resident Evil 8 at Sony's PlayStation 5 event today. As previously leaked by several sources online, the upcoming installment to the long-time survival horror franchise will adopt the official title Resident Evil 8: Village. The event also confirmed that Resident Evil 8 will be releasing sometime in 2021.
Prior to the official announcement, rumors about Resident Evil 8 surfaced online almost every day. As seen in the trailer, the upcoming installment to the survival horror franchise will be the "darkest" and "most gruesome" Resident Evil game of all time. Resident Evil 8's debut trailer also confirmed that the game will be played from a first-person perspective similar to that of its 2017 predecessor and that the game will be set in a remote village, complete with a medieval-style castle, and villagers that resemble those from Resident Evil 4. Lastly, players can also expect enemies that are in the realm of the supernatural such as what appears to be a witch and the previously rumored werewolf-like creatures.
However, the biggest revelation of the trailer is the appearance of Resident Evil characters Ethan Winters and Chris Redfield, both of whom played important roles in Resident Evil 7. Towards the end of the trailer, Chris Redfield uttered the words "Sorry, Ethan", before shooting someone point-blank. As of the moment, the identity of the person that Chris shot is unknown, but it is implied that the person is someone close to Ethan, given that he shouted at Chris saying, "Why?!" before the trailer faded to black.
Several unknown characters are also shown throughout the trailer, though their relevance in Resident Evil 8 remains a mystery. It is worth pointing out that prior to today's reveal, various sources claimed that Resident Evil 8 will be featuring three playable characters, with one of them being Ethan Winters, while the identity of the other two remains unknown. As seen from the preview, Resident Evil 8 will follow the story of Ethan and Mia Winters shortly after their horrific ordeal in the Baker Mansion in Resident Evil 7. The upcoming game's official trailer opened with the line "His story comes to a close", which could mean one of two things. First, Resident Evil 8 could show the conclusion of Ethan Winters' involvement in the Resident Evil franchise or it could also mark the end of Chris Redfield's story, which began during the events of the first Resident Evil.
Resident Evil 8: Village is set to release in 2021.