Capcom Isn't Scrapping Resident Evil, but Mainline Story Could Wrap Up in Next 10 Years According to Producer

IGN recently reported that Resident Evil series producer Jun Takeuchi commented that Capcom’s survival horror series’ story could end in the next 10 years. However, this does not mean that Capcom plans to stop making Resident Evil games in the next decade.

As Takeuchi told 47 News (picked up by Yahoo Japan) in a recent interview, “With the release of Requiem this year, I feel like the first 10 years have reached the end of a chapter, so I think the conclusion will come in the following 10 years."

This quote set news outlets and fans wondering if Capcom plans to wind up its popular franchise by 2036. However, what Takeuchi is specifically referring to here is the company’s 10-year branding concept for the survival horror franchise. This vision kicked off with the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, which Takeuchi refers to in the previous paragraph, and involved much mulling over how to deal with Resident Evil’s overarching story.

“The series' story wasn't all planned out from the beginning, it expanded with each new release," Takeuchi said. "When we were planning the Resident Evil 2 remake and coming up with the 10-year branding concept, this (the story) was what we puzzled over. If you play through all of these games, I think you'll work out the meaning behind the order of the remakes.”

Therefore, the ‘first 10 years’ Takeuchi is referring to is the decade of this branding concept. This period saw the release of the Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 remakes, plus Village and Requiem. Another remake, Resident Evil Veronica, is due out next year. It is this overarching, mainline story that Takeuchi feels will wrap up in the upcoming decade (i.e. ‘the following 10 years’).

Takeuchi’s vision for the next decade of Resident Evil will include both remakes and new titles. However, when asked how many fresh Resi titles will be released before 2036, Takeuchi failed to spill the details but did say we can expect multiple games.

Resident Evil is one of Capcom’s top multimedia franchises (with the company's latest financial report highlighting strong ongoing sales). If this momentum continues, Capcom will likely still have other Resident Evil releases on the zombie-infested horizon in 2036 and beyond. Even if the main story concludes, there is plenty of potential for games and movies to timeline-hop or delve into new settings. Capcom could also catch up with beloved characters like Jill Valentine or Rebecca Chambers.

Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa mused earlier this year that the series might one day get a game set in Japan (a location that has only ever appeared in the official manga spin-off Biohazard Heavenly Island). “Even though Japan hasn’t appeared as a setting for the games yet, I think it might at some point in the future." he said, adding: "There are still many things we'd like to do."