Resident Evil could become an annual franchise thanks to remakes.

Capcom intends to abandon the long hiatus between Resident Evil releases and is going to turn the game into an annual series of releases. However, the company is not going to accelerate the development of new license plates at any price. Instead, the publisher bets on alternating original games and modern reinterpretations of classic releases of the series.

Resident Evil producer Masatika Kawata talked about the new strategy in an interview with Game Informer. According to him, it is this combination that allows you to simultaneously maintain the interest of the audience, maintain the high quality of the games and not overload the development teams.

Full sequels are too complicated

According to Kawata, creating a new Resident Evil series today takes much longer than it used to. Modern projects require the development of new game mechanics, large story campaigns, realistic graphics and a large amount of content, so it is almost impossible to release such games every year.

The company admits that the attempt to switch to such a schedule inevitably affected either the quality of the games or the working conditions of the studios. That is why Capcom chose a different model of the series.

Instead of forcing the development of new parts, the publisher distributes resources between several projects, some of which are modern remakes of classic games.

Remakes have become a full-fledged part of the production cycle

Capcom emphasizes that updated versions of old Resident Evil have long ceased to be considered secondary projects or a way to cash in on nostalgia.

According to the producer, modern remakes require almost the same amount of work as creating a new game. Developers have to completely revise the visual part, adapt the gameplay to modern standards, redo the level design, and sometimes significantly change the structure of the story.

That is why within the company, remakes are considered as a full-fledged part of the development of the franchise, and not as an addition to the numbered issues.

Continuous development pipeline

Thanks to parallel work on several projects at once, Capcom was able to maintain a constant interest in Resident Evil.

While one team is working on a new main part, other studios are working on remakes of already existing games. This approach allows practically not to leave the series without major releases and at the same time reduces the risks associated with long-term development of expensive projects.

In addition, constant releases help to keep players interested between the release of new numbered parts, which is especially important for a franchise with a history of almost thirty years.

The commercial success of remakes affects the future of the company

Another reason for the active development of the sector was the financial results of recent years.

The updated versions of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and especially Resident Evil 4 have shown high sales and have become one of Capcom’s most successful projects in the last decade.

According to Kawata, it is the stable profit from these games that allows the company to invest not only in the development of Resident Evil itself, but also to finance the creation of new intellectual properties.

As an example, he gave Pragmata – a new project by Capcom, the development of which is also supported by income from franchises.

After Code: Veronica

The next remake of the series will officially be Resident Evil: Code Veronica. However, after its release, the company will face another problem — the number of obvious candidates for modern processing will be significantly reduced.

If earlier the choice was quite obvious due to the popularity of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica, then the situation is becoming less clear.

Fans call Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 the most likely contenders. At the same time, it is the last two parts that remain one of the most controversial in the history of the series. Many players believe that it is they who are stronger than others who need not just updated graphics, but a serious overhaul of game mechanics, campaign structure and individual plot elements.

The rate for the annual release of the game

The words of the company’s representatives show that Capcom sees Resident Evil no longer as a franchise with rare premieres, but as a long-term ecosystem that should be regularly replenished with new releases.

At the same time, remakes are not a temporary solution, but one of the key elements of this model. They allow you to distribute the workload between studios, maintain the commercial success of the brand, and at the same time create a financial basis for the development of the next installments and new game series. That is why Capcom considers updated versions of the classic Resident Evil to be no less important for the future of the franchise than new games.