Resident Evil Requiem producer says there are ‘some remaining elements’ from when it started as a multiplayer game
Masato Kumazawa says the multiplayer prototype was “fun to play” but wasn’t scary
The producer of Resident Evil Requiem says the game has retained some elements from its original concept as an online multiplayer title.
The ninth main game in the Resident Evil series was originally conceived as an online open-world multiplayer game, before it was decided to scrap this idea and deliver a traditional single-player Resident Evil adventure.
However, in an interview with Press Start Australia, producer Masato Kumazawa has hinted that some of the ideas that were created when Requiem was a multiplayer game have carried over to the existing project, but won’t reveal what these are yet.
“There are some remaining elements, but we can’t disclose what it is and how it is,” Kumazawa said, explaining that while the multiplayer project was shaping up to be a good game, it wasn’t scary enough.
“Looking at the game when it was multiplayer, the horror part was very mild,” he explained. “However, in that build, we made a game that was fun to play.
“But we looked deeply into this game and wondered if a fan of the franchise would really like this, so we thought they would probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much. That’s the reason we made it back into single player. But because it was fun, we added elements from that build to the final game to ensure it was fun.”
When asked what he thought fans expected from a Resident Evil game, Kumazawa added: “I believe fans of the franchise want is survival horror and being scared. That is the number one thing that fans want. So by saying that, we can’t just slap on new skins and new characters and give you the same experience. It wouldn’t be that good.”
Further reading
According to Kumazawa, Requiem has been in development for six years, including the period when it was being designed as an online multiplayer game.
Resident Evil Requiem is releasing on February 27 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
“Requiem, initially at least, looks like a familiar successor to the first-person games RE7 and Village, with Ashcroft trapped in some sort of gothic hospital,” VGC wrote in a Resident Evil Requiem preview earlier this year.
“As the player progresses further through the dimly lit corridors, with flickering lights casting unsettling shadows across the environment, it’s clear that in this section at least, Requiem really does feel like the traditional survival horror we were promised.”
