Resident Evil Requiem devs spent "some time experimenting" with open world and online formats, but in the end settled for a "single-player, offline game"

Resident Evil Requiem is the next mainline entry in the iconic survival horror series, and this time we're going back to Raccoon City. But, did you know the game was once maybe going to be a multiplayer experience?

"Resident Evil Requiem is a single-player, offline game," producer Masachika Kawata asserts in a creators' message video, so don't get too excited (or worried) at the prospect. However, he adds: "We were even exploring many different systems early in development."

"You might have heard some of the rumors," says director Koshi Nakanishi for all of you who keep your ear to the ground on all things Resident Evil. "Things like an online Resident Evil or an open-world Resident Evil, which we spent some time experimenting with. But in the end, although we had some interesting concepts, we realized that it wasn't what fans wanted to see or play. So we went back to the drawing board, and created what led to Resident Evil Requiem."

Resident Evil Requiem follows a new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. She's a skittish but well-trained FBI agent. "We always thought about making Leon the protagonist, but making a horror game based around him is difficult," Nakanishi explains. "He wouldn't jump at something like a bucket falling. No one wants to see Leon scared by every little thing. So he's actually quite a bad match for horror." Sorry if you wanted to see more of the beefcake, you'll have to wait.

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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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