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Right now, nobody in gaming is hotter than Capcom. Hit after hit, remake after remake, new IP after new IP—the company is operating with the kind of confidence most publishers can only fake. Which makes one question impossible to ignore: what comes after Resident Evil Requiem?
Rumors are everywhere. Resident Evil 0. Code Veronica. Resident Evil 5. Even a second remake of the original game.
But after looking at Requiem more closely, I think Capcom may have already shown us the answer.
And if I’m right, we’re heading back to where the nightmare began.
The original Resident Evil already had a remake on the GameCube back in the early 2000s while Resident Evil: Code Veronica hasn’t seen anything new since the expanded Code Veronica X edition, which introduced new cutscenes and expanded Wesker’s involvement in the plot. Resident Evil 5 hasn’t been touched since its DLC released.
With Wesker being so prevalent in Resident Evil 4’s Separate Ways DLC, it stands to reason that Capcom’s keen on bringing back the character. Or at least, reintroducing him to a new generation of fans.
We know Wesker’s on tap…which unfortunately still doesn’t narrow down our next probable Resident Evil remake. Wesker’s present in all of the contenders.
So I guess we should take a look at Resident Evil Requiem – or to be precise, its environments.
Why you ask?
Turnaround time.
These assets, with a bit of touch-up work, can easily be reused for whatever title is in the pipeline. That’s how Capcom’s been chugging out Resident Evil games so fast these last few years. Most of the assets from their other titles can be repurposed for other games in the series quite easily.
With that in mind, Resident Evil Requiem has the mansion/ psychiatric hospital, we have the remnants of Raccoon City and we have the Umbrella lab.
This narrows it down somewhat. Taken with Resident Evil Requiem’s heavy focus on Oswell Spencer, I think it definitely points to what Capcom’s set to unveil in the coming months – a re-remake of Resident Evil.
Resident Evil (the original) takes place in the Spencer mansion, its guard house and the hidden Umbrella lab. That means the work done for Rhodes Hill can be repurposed for the Spencer Mansion easily. Just change the textures, remodel some areas and wham… the job’s done.
Also note the name – the Spencer mansion.
As in Oswell Spencer.
The same Oswell Spencer in Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil Requiem.
If Capcom wants to strike while the name is still hot in fans’ minds, a re-remake of Resident Evil is the way to go. It even dovetails nicely with the Blister Heads from Resident Evil Requiem. Their forebears, the Crimson Heads, made their debut in the Resident Evil GameCube remake.
So that’s the mansion and guardhouse down.
What about the underground area that connects the lab to the mansion? That’s pretty much in Resident Evil Requiem too! Remember the underground area with Plant 43? Yup, easily repurposed again.
Same thing for the hidden Umbrella lab.
The Ark is pretty much interchangeable with any of Umbrella’s previous labs. Whether it’s the NEST (Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 2) or NEST 2 (Resident Evil 3), Umbrella’s hidden labs all share the same aesthetics. OK, to be fair, the Tricel Uroboros lab in Resident Evil 5 also looked similar. With so many similarities, Capcom can mix and match from all of the previous work on past Resident Evil games to use in the new remake without anybody raising an eyebrow.
I guess when you’re an evil pharmaceutical company, you start to share similar design themes.
So yes… it’s looking very likely that we’re in for a trip to the Arklay Mountains yet again.
Of course, this is still speculation. Capcom could pivot to Resident Evil 0, finally give Code Veronica its due (no version of it is still on PC for some reason), or surprise everyone with Resident Evil 5. Nothing is confirmed.
But if you follow Capcom’s pattern—reuse smartly, move quickly, and build momentum—the signs point strongly toward the original Resident Evil getting rebuilt once more.
The assets line up. The Spencer focus lines up. Even the timing lines up.
And honestly? It makes sense.
Resident Evil began in the mansion. If Requiem is about legacy, then there may be no better place for Capcom to return next.
So if I were betting today, I’d put my chips on the Arklay Mountains.
The only real question now is this:
Do you hear dogs barking outside the front door?
Salehuddin Husin, EIC
Sal's been in the industry since the early 2000s. He's written for a ton of gaming and tech publications including Playworks, Hardwarezone, HWM and GameAxis. Recently, Sal served as a juror for the Indie Game Awards at Taipei Game Show 2020. A geek and hardcore gamer, Sal will play everything, on any platform.
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