With the Resident Evil franchise being one of Capcom's top-sellers, it's no surprise that the company has new RE games in constant development. This includes spin-offs as well as main series games, with the upcoming Resident Evil 9 supposedly in active development at Capcom right now. However, anyone hoping that they'll get to play Resident Evil 9 anytime soon should rein in their expectations, as the game's release date is likely years away.
This is according to Resident Evil leaker AestheticGamer, who has said that Resident Evil 9 actually started development back in 2018. AestheticGamer believes that Resident Evil 9 will have the longest development period out of any Resident Evil game, guessing that it will be in the works for six to seven years. If AestheticGamer's prediction is accurate, that would put the Resident Evil 9 release date somewhere in 2024 or 2025, meaning fans of the franchise have at least three years to wait.
This isn't the first time that AestheticGamer has brought up Resident Evil 9. Previously, it was said that Resident Evil 9's story will conclude the narrative arc that started with Resident Evil 7. With the way Resident Evil Village ended, it's clear that there's still quite a bit of story to tell, so it will definitely be interesting to see what Resident Evil 9 has in store from a story standpoint. That being said, fans should take this information with a grain of salt until Capcom itself reveals RE9 to the world.
To talk more about what Resident Evil 9 might entail, it's necessary to get into some Resident Evil Village SPOILERS, so those that have yet to beat the game should proceed with caution.
The Resident Evil Village ending set up quite a bit for a potential Resident Evil 9, which seems as though it will be about Ethan Winters' daughter Rose, who is now a teenager. Since Rose has special powers, it's unclear if she ages faster than other humans or if there has been a significant time jump between the end of Resident Evil Village and the start of Resident Evil 9.
If there is a time jump between Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 9, it has very interesting implications for some of the other characters in the series. A time jump would mean that Chris Redfield is likely an old man in Resident Evil 9, which would likely impact just how much he's involved in the story. But if there is no time jump and Rose simply ages faster than other people, then Chris could still be heavily involved.
At this stage, all Resident Evil fans can do is speculate based on leaked information that may or may not be accurate, so there's not much of a point in discussing the game just yet. There will be other Resident Evil games released first, so fans can look forward to playing them while they wait for official information on Resident Evil 9.
Resident Evil 9 is rumored to be in development.