Capcom's releasing a Resident Evil 7 VR prequel you'll probably never get to play

(Image credit: Capcom)

If, like me, you became grimly obsessed with your terrifying encounter with The Bakers in Resident Evil 7 and Marguerite's, er, interesting home cooking, you too might have been excited to hear there's a Resident Evil 7 prequel on its way. And just in case playing through Resident Evil 7 in VR wasn't terrifying enough for you, this too will be a virtual reality experience. Sounds great, right?

Sadly, not all is as it seems, though. While Biohazard 7: Walkthrough The Fear certainly sounds cool enough – we're told the story takes us back to Louisiana where we'll once again spend quality time with patriarch Jack, trapped in a basement and trying to escape – unless you're living in Tokyo (or planning to visit it very, very soon) chances are you'll never get to play it.

Unlike the main game which released on PC and consoles, Walkthrough the Fear will be a co-operative arcade experience only available at The Plaza Capcom Ikebukuro VR-X booth in Tokyo, Japan. Launching on October 26, 2019 – which suggests it's a special Halloween event – the experience is expected to clock in at around 40 minutes, and will be available for 2-4 players. We can only hope Capcom decides to share it with the rest of us too, eh?

Of course, this isn't the first time Capcom has fused virtual reality with its premier horror franchise. Resident Evil 7 itself was fully playable in VR on PlayStation 4... and it was terrifying.

JICYMI, Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 are coming to Switch on October 29, just two days before the big spooky day itself. And thanks to free demos for both games, you can start your celebrations a little early. Like what you see enough to pick up one or both of the full versions, and you'll be able to transfer your progress from the demo over, too. Nice!

The producer of upcoming Resident Evil spin-off, Project Resistance, recently responded publicly to criticism of the series' new direction, stating that while it's "totally valid that people want more of the quality core [Resident Evil] experience" Capcom needs "to continue to branch out and try to offer up new gameplay in addition to refining the experiences people expect".

For more on Project Resistance, find out why Josh thinks that while it isn't the Resident Evil game any of us asked for, he's sure glad that it exists.

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.