Capcom seems to be on one hell of a roll these days as yet another remake from its infamous Resident Evil franchise was officially confirmed at this year's State of Play. One of the most beloved of the series entries, Resident Evil 4 will be receiving the same special treatment its predecessors got and is expected to be released in early 2023. It was arguably Capcom's biggest announcement alongside other reveals from a Resident Evil Village VR port to special editions.
The announcement wasn't so much a surprise as an overdue expectation among fans, as rumors and details surrounding a Resident Evil 4 remake had been circling online for years before this latest confirmation. However, it does pose a new challenge for Capcom regarding the prospect of future remakes, since there's an ever-dwindling supply of outdated games that could do with a fresh lick of paint that fans would want to see. Though there might not be an immediate problem, the studio does run the risk of doubling back on itself and coming full circle to its latest entries including Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village.
Only So Many Resident Evils
While there may be a breadth of spin-offs and tie-in games within the Resident Evil franchise, not to mention its strange relationship with TV shows and films, the mainline series actually only has 10 games. Several of these were released recently enough that justification for a remake sadly isn't there, such as the likes of Resident Evil 6 which was ported to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One and is only a decade old from its initial release. Resident Evil 5 might be viable after the latest remake has hit consoles, but it was at that point in the series where critics began to comment on the departure from traditional survival horror to more marketable action-based gameplay, so if a remake was to be made it might need a complete overhaul.
Capcom might need to refocus on some of its spin-offs for Resident Evil if it wants to pump the brakes and provide itself some breathing room before tackling the mainline series. One of the immediate challenges here however is finding which games could justify being remade, as while a Resident Evil Outbreak remake could work, Capcom might have a harder time selling a remake of Resident Evil Gaiden. Another issue would be that a decent portion of some of Resident Evil's spin-offs are actually a variety of "light gun" shooters, meaning that at the time they were ideal especially when the likes of the Wii and other motion controls were the new craze, but nowadays, it'd be another hard sell. While this of course doesn't rule out the potential of VR remakes for some of these titles, it's once again limiting the players it can sell to considering the cost and availability of VR peripherals.
Resident Evil's Endgame
It's unclear then what Capcom actually plans to do following the release of its Resident Evil 4 remake. Some suppose that Capcom is actually embarking on an effort to tidy up its timeline of games so that come Resident Evil 9 in whatever form that takes, it will be able to propel the franchise forwards with a solid foundation to work from as part of its endgame. The difficulty at the moment is that the "original" Resident Evil games all centered around viruses of some kind that led to mutations and undead monsters hunting the player, but with the advent of Resident Evil 7 and Village Capcom took a departure and instead conjured up an idea of mutative mold. Current speculation hints that the Resident Evil 4 remake and Resident Evil Village will share some sort of connection, supporting the suggested convergence of both sides into one singular story.
However, Capcom may still just be planning to steam right ahead and will set its sights on a Resident Evil 5 remake next, even in spite of the difficulties it might face from deciding whether to cut the bizarre Chris boulder punching QTE to tackling and resolving the racial criticisms it received on its initial release. Fortunately, in the meantime, it has nothing but time on its side, as Resident Evil 4's remake isn't due out until early 2023, with further content planned alongside this that ranges from Resident Evil Village DLC to more spin-offs. Still, there is a ticking clock that Capcom is going to have to reconcile sooner or later, and the sooner it does then the sooner its fans can move on from worrying about the loop it's headed for.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is set to release on March 24, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.