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Resident Evil Requiem developers have confirmed that the game is set "about 30 years after the missile strike on Raccoon City," helping to place it on the series' timeline.
Director Koshi Nakanishi revealed the detail in a Creator's Message video uploaded to YouTube following the most recent Capcom Spotlight stream, where others hinted at the difficulties the team faced in returning to the iconic location.
In the Resident Evil lore, Raccoon City was destroyed in September 1998. By my estimates, it looks like new protagonist Grace Ashcroft will be exploring Raccoon City in 2027 or 2028 then, which fits with a small reference spotted by eagle-eyed fans in Resident Evil 7.
A lot of characters were involved in the events of Raccoon City, including fan favorites Jill Valentine and Leon Kennedy (who we're all still hoping will make an appearance in Requiem despite being called "a bad match for horror"), and art director Tomonori Takano says "figuring out how to tell a story which came off of all that came before was actually quite a daunting undertaking that I was very nervous about."
At the end of the video, producer Masachika Kawata reveals "we thought we couldn't touch Raccoon City," before it cuts to an advert for Capcom's website, the Resident Evil Portal. The voiceover in the video says that "further interviews with the creators that didn't fit into today's presentation will be released today on the Resident Evil Portal," but it looks like one touching on Kawata's thoughts is yet to be uploaded, making the devs' hesitance about returning to the location a bit of a mystery for now.
Requiem is set to release on February 27, 2026, and producer Masato Kumazawa notes that this is just before Resident Evil marks its 30-year anniversary. Why did it take Capcom nearly as long to take the series back to Raccoon City in a new game? I'll be keeping an eye out on the Resident Evil Portal to see if we'll ever find out.
Resident Evil Requiem gameplay was also shown during the Capcom Spotlight stream, snippets of which can be seen in the Creator's Message video. The developers also confirmed that they experimented with the idea of Requiem being an online game before they realised it "wasn't what fans wanted to see or play".
Can't wait until February? Then check out our list of the best games like Resident Evil you can play right now.
