As awesome as the new reveals for Resident Evil Village were last night, some of you (including myself) were wondering just where that Resident Evil 4 remake was. After all, despite all of the rumours, we haven’t officially heard from Capcom about it.
Well, it turns out (and this is another rumour) that the project has had some major shakeups. According to sources speaking to Video Games Chronicle, M-Two, which has supposedly been pegged to work on the project, has had its role reduced significantly, to the point that the mainline Resident Evil studio Capcom Division 1 has been brought in to lead a new direction.
If you’re unfamiliar with M-Two, the studio was partly funded by Capcom, and is comprised of some former PlatinumGames employees, including developers from the Metal Gear Rising and Bayonetta 2 teams. The team contributed to the development of 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake, which was to set them up to handle the lead role for RE4.
However, according to the multiple sources, M-Two’s role on RE4 was significantly reduced following a key project review late last year, and Capcom’s Division 1 – the internal team responsible for Resident Evil and Devil May Cry games – will now be the lead.
Reasoning for this change is due to disagreements with M-Two’s desire to stick faithfully to the template of the original Resident Evil 4, which was partly influenced by fans’ disappointment with the RE3 remake, which had several chunks cut out of it when compared to the original game.
In contrast, Capcom’s production team is said to prefer a direction which would see RE4’s remake inspired by the original, but with its own unique take on features, story elements and environments while not being confined to the blueprint of the original. An example would be Resident Evil 2‘s remake, and its use of Mr. X.
As a result, sources stated that the Resident Evil 4 remake would now be partially rebooted under the new mandate, and see its release potentially delayed to 2023 as a result.
While these things happen, it’s no less a bummer. After all, Resident Evil 4 gave the series new life when it was originally released, and is still one of the highest-rated titles in Capcom’s library.
But, in the meantime, we can still look forward to Resident Evil Village, which comes out May 7, 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC. Also, check out our impressions of the PS5-exclusive demo.