Insider Insights: Resident Evil 9 Aiming to Redefine the Franchise with Unprecedented Ambition

Insider Dusk Golem occasionally provides insights regarding the Resident Evil franchise. While he doesn’t always hit the mark, some of his claims have been verified. We’ve compiled intriguing details from several threads by Dusk Golem on the social media platform X.

(1/6) Almost every rumor about RE9 that I’ve encountered over the years has been complete nonsense. The one about the Native American Wendigo blood moon? Nonsense. The Goat Man appearing with Jill in a hospital? Nonsense.

Andi is the only individual whose information I can confirm as accurate, along with some details I’ve been discussing https://t.co/sd95wAGhZN for a while now, though much of what he has shared pertains to an older, scrapped iteration of RE9 that he talked about around 11-12 months ago.

Initially, RE9 began its development in 2017 (Andi refers to 2016/2017, but it was indeed early 2017 after the launch of RE7 did not meet Capcom’s expectations).

(2/6) While RE7 eventually saw significant sales success, this initial approach to RE9 was somewhat reactionary. The original concept for RE9 aimed to contrast RE7, envisioning a vast, open-world multiplayer experience. It was set to feature Leon and Jill on a fictional island inspired by Singapore.

(3/6) Although Andi didn’t specify the setting, that was the location for the earlier, canceled version of RE9. HOWEVER, again, this pertains to the previous RE9; the project went through a major reboot in 2021, coinciding with the release of Village, although a few elements remained intact, such as Leon still being the central character.

(4/6) I’ll leave the remaining revelations to Capcom, as I’ve chosen to be more of a teaser than a leaker, as I mentioned. However, I find it fascinating to learn about canceled game content. A few months ago, Andi also shared some insights regarding the Zero Remake and Code Veronica Remake, which I can confirm are accurate, though they’re somewhat outdated (the development of RE:0 saw significant shifts about six months ago). He’s correct that the RE1 Remake was not in development as of 2023, which aligns with what I’ve been saying about the RE1 Remake rumors being nonsense, among other things. So if he claims an announcement is imminent, I trust him.

(5/7) He’s also accurate about the Rebecca-centered Revelations 3 that I discussed back in the early 2020s being canceled in 2022; it was initially meant to be a Switch title.

Let Capcom handle their own announcements for RE9; I’m just intrigued by the behind-the-scenes development insights.

(1/2) Unfortunately, the answer is quite mundane. Revelations 3, much like its predecessors Revelations 1 and 2, was not primarily developed internally by Capcom. The outcomes they received were unfortunately not satisfactory. Capcom was also preoccupied with the development of RE:4 https://t.co/DoQQf45op4.

(2/2) Given that RE9 had recently been rebooted as well, all resources were allocated to RE:4 and RE9. Instead of attempting to salvage Revelations 3 in-house, it seems they opted to let it go, considering the manpower and budget it required, focusing their efforts on RE:4 and RE9 instead.

(1/3) I’ve publicly stated since 2021 that Resident Evil 9 is an exceptionally ambitious project. I have a lot in mind when I say this.

It began development in 2017 and is projected for release in 2026. By the time it launches, it will have been in some form of development for roughly nine years, marking the longest development cycle for a Resident Evil game by a significant margin https://t.co/B9ZGBdvtSR.

(2/3) The game seeks to establish a new benchmark for the series and, in certain aspects, reinvent itself, returning to concepts we’ve seen in RE4 and RE7.

Capcom aims for RE9 to reach a very high quality level, making it the first mainline non-remake Resident Evil title since the original RE4 to achieve a Metacritic score over 90.

(3/3) It boasts the largest budget of any Resident Evil game to date, experimenting with new concepts and striving to include a wide array of quality content, pushing boundaries in areas like graphics and audio, etc.

As I’ve asserted since 2021, RE9 is simply a highly ambitious game.