Resident Evil Requiem Development Started by Exploring the Concept of Fear, Says Director

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Despite being full of action, the director of Resident Evil Requiem, Koshi Nakanishi, explains that the game’s development actually began with a focus on creating fear. In a recent Eurogamer interview, Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa discussed the game’s success and how Capcom initially approached its creation.

Nakanishi explained that Requiem successfully blends scary moments with satisfying action, allowing players to feel both fear and relief.

He pointed out that many horror games aim to scare players, but what sets Resident Evil apart is its balance. It creates a really intense, stressful experience with frightening situations, but also gives you the satisfaction of surviving and fighting back.

Nakanishi explained that the team always begins by clearly defining the kind of horror they want to create with each game. Without a solid vision for the horror experience from the beginning, it’s hard to build and design the rest of the game effectively around that central idea.

Nakanishi also talked about what truly makes a game a Resident Evil title, questioning if it could still be considered one without both survival horror and action elements.

It’s not really my place to say exactly what makes a Resident Evil game, but I’m confident that fans wouldn’t consider it a true Resident Evil title if we only focused on one aspect of the series.

Kumazawa noted that Capcom is thrilled with the positive response to Requiem, particularly regarding the sections where players return to Raccoon City with Leon S. Kennedy.

“It was fantastic,” Kumzwa shared through a translator. “We were thrilled to see how players reacted after the game came out. We intentionally kept things secret beforehand to preserve the surprise, especially regarding the story following the return to Raccoon City. Seeing people’s streams, clips, and online reactions made us not only happy that they were enjoying the game, but also confirmed that our strategy of keeping those details hidden had paid off.”

During the same interview, Kumazawa was questioned about Resident Evil Requiem being featured in Nvidia’s DLSS 5 demonstration in March. He didn’t directly respond to the resulting criticism, but he did point out that the strong reaction from fans regarding Grace Ashcroft’s character design was positive for Capcom.

It was encouraging that many players expressed their love for Grace’s original design and didn’t want any changes. This showed we’d hit the mark with the initial design and confirmed that Grace had quickly become a popular character, as people clearly cared about how she looked.

You can now play Resident Evil Requiem on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. If you’re interested, you can also learn about a planned but ultimately removed ‘Chapter 2’ for the game.

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2026-05-04 18:41