A newly announced closed beta by Capcom reveals that there may be a multiplayer Resident Evil title currently in development and quickly approaching release. Exactly what this new game is and whether or not it has any connection to the upcoming Resident Evil 8 is still up in the air, but select players might get the chance at an early look.
The beta is officially connected to the 25th anniversary of Resident Evil coming up this March, which suggests that this secret project might launch before the next installment in the series does. Players can sign up for the closed beta now, with some fans of the Resident Evil Ambassador's program having a higher chance of being selected to participate.
Capcom will begin conducting the closed beta between January 27 and 31, through several different hours of operation that will be separated by multiple maintenance times. Players can join on either PS4 or Xbox One, with these versions also being available to anyone on the next-gen versions of these consoles as well, though there doesn't appear to be optimization for newer systems. Registration for this chance to see what Capcom has planned for Resident Evil in 2021 is currently open and will continue to run until January 25, with the final announcement for who got accepted coming on January 27.
Any players that are already members of the Resident Evil Ambassadors program will have a better chance of being accepted into the beta based on their rankings. Silver rank fans, for example, will have double the chance to be chosen, while platinum members will have ten times the chance over new members. However, there will also be two chances to register for the Resident Evil closed beta, so avid fans that aren't already ambassadors can still make two separate attempts to be included.
With little information to go on for what this beta test might actually be for, some players have already begun speculating what new game Capcom is working on. Fortunately, it does look like there will be a larger reveal for what the developer has in store scheduled for January 21, which might provide some real answers for what to expect. For now, it's anybody's guess of whether this is the start of a whole new game, or something more along the lines of a standalone Resident Evil: Resistance that isn't coupled with any other major title in the series.
A new Resident Evil Multiplayer is suggested to be in development by Capcom.
Source: ResidentEvil.com