Summer Game Fest 2025 ended with a major surprise for fans of the Resident Evil franchise: the official announcement of Resident Evil 9: Requiem, the highly anticipated next installment in Capcom’s survival horror series.

Directed by Koshi Nakanishi, the same director behind Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the game promises a return to the series’ survival-horror roots, with tighter resource management, deeper psychological tension, and a redesigned exploration system. Built with the upgraded RE Engine, Requiem delivers improved visuals and a distinct artistic tone compared to Village.

Return to Raccoon City

According to the official trailer and Capcom’s promotional website, everything begins with the discovery of a mysterious corpse inside the abandoned Wrenwood Hotel, exhibiting signs of a strange and unidentified illness. The case is assigned to Grace Ashcroft, an intelligence analyst at the FBI known for her exceptional deductive skills and intense focus. The hotel also holds personal significance for Grace: it’s the same place where her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, a character from Resident Evil Outbreak, died eight years prior.

Grace’s trauma could become a central element of the story, as her investigation gradually unearths secrets buried since the Raccoon City incident of 1998, the bioterror disaster that changed the world. In the opening moments of the trailer, Grace is also seen analyzing footage from the Dulvey incident (Resident Evil 7), in a scene that hints at a broader connection between her mission and previous outbreaks across the franchise timeline. The return to Raccoon City seems to offer a mix of new threats and unfamiliar characters, with plenty of unanswered questions.

What changes in Resident Evil 9: Requiem

Resident Evil 9: Requiem introduces innovations such as the ability to switch freely between first-person and third-person perspectives, allowing players to experience the environment and combat in the way that suits them best. This flexibility is fully integrated into exploration and enemy encounters, offering an experience that blends old and new Resident Evil camera perspectives.

Faithful to the franchise’s survival horror tradition, the game emphasizes exploration, puzzle-solving, and resource management. Like Ethan Winters in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Grace is not a soldier; she begins the story unarmed and must rely on environmental tools and stealth. The gameplay is enhanced by darkness, which, thanks to the improved RE Engine, becomes an enemy itself, forcing players to use flashlights, lighters, or restore electricity to navigate and interact with particular objects.

The playable demo had a dark and tense atmosphere, and it’s speculated that a second playable character might be introduced later on. During the 30-minute trial, players encountered terrifying new monsters and got a glimpse of updated mechanics, characters now heal using syringes instead of the traditional spray.

What to expect from the game

Unlike Resident Evil 8: Village, which blended action and horror, leaning slightly in favor of action, Requiem prioritizes atmosphere and psychological dread at its core. Grace’s vulnerability, along with her emotional detachment, shapes an experience that feels slower, more cautious, and methodical, relying on fear instead of combat.

And from what we’ve seen so far, Requiem seems radically different even from the latest entry in the series: Village’s DLC Shadows of Rose, which introduced supernatural powers. Here, everything appears grounded in realism, with an approach to survival horror that directly echoes the original Resident Evil and the Spencer Mansion incident.

Although there’s no official word yet on returning characters like Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy, the game’s timeline and incipit suggest that Requiem could serve as a narrative bridge between the post-Village era and the events of earlier titles. The campaign is expected to be more focused on story, possibly featuring less combat than Village and more claustrophobic environments. The wait for the release, set for February 27, 2026, has just begun.