DexertoResident Evil 9 was announced at Summer Game Fest in a shock end reveal after being teased halfway through the stream. Now, we know a fair bit more about the upcoming horror sequel so here are all the details.
After the success of Resident Evil Village and the remake of Resident Evil 4, a Resident Evil 9 felt inevitable. Now, Capcom has finally confirmed the upcoming game is indeed real.
While the Resident Evil Village DLC gave us closure on various story threads, plenty more is set to be addressed in Resident Evil 9. Below, we’ll compile everything we know about the horror sequel. Be warned, spoilers for previous Resident Evil games lurk within.
Resident Evil Requiem release date
Resident Evil Requiem will release on February 27, 2026, as announced at Summer Game Fest 2025.
It will be arriving across PS5, Xbox Series X | S, and PC through Steam. There’s currently no word on the possibility of a Switch 2 port.
DexertoSetting, Story & Characters
Story
During the trailer, we’re introduced to Grace Ashcroft, an FBI technical analyst tasked with investigating a series of mysterious deaths linked to an unidentified disease.
The Wrenwood Hotel, the site of a murder believed to be linked to previous crimes and where Grace’s own mother, Alyssa, was murdered some time before, is mentioned by Grace’s colleague, triggering a series of traumatic flashbacks for the former.
Setting
DexertoResident Evil Requiem marks a return to Raccoon City, 30 years after a missile strike all but eviscerated it.
The mountain town and the nearby Arklay Mountains were the sites of Umbrella’s initial bioweapon experimentation and are critically important to the series’ lore. These experiments led to the T-virus Mansion Incident as depicted in the first Resident Evil.
The aftermath of this event and the widespread T-virus outbreak in Raccoon City are explored in the first game’s two sequels, ultimately culminating in the city’s destruction by nuclear explosion to eliminate all traces of the outbreak.
The trailer reveals the aftermath of this explosion, depicting a giant crater at the epicentre of Raccoon City and some still-standing buildings on the outskirts. Portions of the Raccoon City Police Department – the primary setting of Resident Evil 2 – are shown to remain, hinting at a return to the iconic location.
Reputable Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem has claimed that Requiem may be an open-world horror adventure. It was initially thought that an open-world Resident Evil had been delayed, but since then, Dusk Golem has said that the open-world Resident Evil and Resident Evil Requiem are the same.
The insider states that Resident Evil Requiem will be set in a “fictional rural town on an island in the Southeast Asia Sea” and will be based in Singapore. If true, it means the likeliest scenario is that Requiem will represent something of a globetrotting adventure, with the destroyed Raccoon City being just one location players will visit.
Resident Evil has utilized islands as settings before, most notably in Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Revelations 2, part of RE4, and in spin-off media.
Characters
Officially, the only named character confirmed for Requiem so far is our protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. A technical analyst for the FBI, Grace is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, a reporter known to have been present in Raccoon City during the virus outbreak.
Along with Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin, Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, and HUNK, Alyssa was a survivor of Raccoon City’s destruction. Her story is told in spin-off game Resident Evil Outbreak, although little mention of her has been made since, outside of a small Easter egg in Resident Evil 7.
Despite having long been rumored to play a major role in Resident Evil 9, Leon doesn’t make an appearance in Requiem’s initial trailer. Dusk Golem reiterated their claim, following the official reveal, that “Leon will play the biggest role” in Requiem, but this remains unconfirmed.
Addressing it head-on in the June 2025 Capcom Spotlight, devs teased how they considered making Leon the protagonist, but it just didn’t fit given the new level of horror on display. “No one wants to see Leon scared by every little thing,” Director Koshi Nakanishi said.
Likewise, Rose Winters, the daughter of Mia and Ethan Winters in Resident Evil Village, was expected to appear in any sequel, but was absent. This could be explained by the time skip seen in Village’s ending and further explored in the Shadows of Rose DLC.
Shadows of Rose takes place in 2037, sixteen years after the events of the base game. Based on Requiem’s reveal trailer, it’s not known if it takes place after the former or remains closer in chronology to Village’s main story. If the latter, Rose would still be a minor, explaining her absence.
Gameplay
During Summer Game Fest, it was revealed that Resident Evil Requiem “isn’t just about survival horror, expect high-stakes action too.”
In our own behind-closed-doors demo of the game, we found out you can play from either a first-person or third-person perspective, Capcom giving the option to freely swap at any time.
As we’ve seen throughout small gameplay snippets thus far, it’s evident there will be some familiar ‘chase’ sequences in Requiem. Much like Mr. X in the past, players will be tracked down throughout a dimly lit house by a new, equally terrifying force.
Trailers
Reveal Trailer
We got our first look at Resident Evil Requiem at the end of Summer Game Fest 2025, after a fake-out earlier in the show.
Creator’s Message 1
While not a trailer per se, the first Creator’s Message video spliced new gameplay footage with developer interviews to provide a more detailed look at the sequel.
As always, we’ll regularly update this article with all new information as and when it surfaces, so be sure to check back.
