The Resident Evil 2 demo is live on PC and consoles with 30 minutes to explore before locking you out

The highly anticipated Resident Evil 2 remake demo is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One! It'll give you strictly 30 minutes of horror-infused fun. Yup, only 30 minutes. Sorry folks. But people are completing the section on offer in around 20 minutes, so don't feel like you have to rush too much. 

30 minutes doesn't sound too long to survive for though, but you know, there's still plenty of room for dying repeatedly, or to hide in a safe room and hyperventilate after encountering your first zombie, or whatever. The important thing is that you'll only have a half hour to do it all before you're locked out - that's why they call it the "1-Shot Demo". Once it's over, you'll (theoretically) have to wait until the Resident Evil 2 remake comes out on January 25 to play more.

When is the Resident Evil 2 demo coming out?

The Resident Evil 2 demo will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One from January 11 to January 31 (just under a week after the full game comes out). Assuming you download the demo while it's live, you'll likely be able to load it up even after it's no longer available online… though you may not have much reason to, for reasons I will presently elucidate.

What is in the Resident Evil 2 demo?

The Resident Evil 2 demo serves up a relatively early portion of the game as rookie cop Leon Kennedy arrives at the Raccoon City Police Station. With a city's worth of lurching ghouls at the gates, Leon's safer inside than out… but not by much. Capcom says you'll have a certain mission objective to complete and you're free to start the demo over again if you accomplish it or die horribly. Whatever you do, an in-game timer will constantly tick down from 30 minutes. A new cinematic trailer will play at the end of your time and then that's it.

Wait, is the Resident Evil 2 demo really just "one shot"?

Even if you exit and restart it, the Resident Evil 2 demo will remember how much time you've spent in game. If your 30 minutes are up, you can't play any more (though you can watch the trailer you unlock at the end as many times as you want). I'm not sure how this limitation may be affected by uninstalling and reinstalling or simply switching user accounts, but the idea is to give you a 30 minute teaser and leave it at that.

How can I get the Resident Evil 2 demo?

The Resident Evil 2 demo will be a free download on PC (via Steam), PS4, and Xbox One from January 11 to 31. Just pull up your platform's digital storefront, search for Resident Evil 2, and you should find it. Capcom hasn't revealed how much storage space you'll need for the download; the full game's approximate size is listed as 21.07GB on the Microsoft Store, so it shouldn't be any bigger than that.

Learn more about the Resident Evil 2 that could have been with this in-depth look at Resident Evil 1.5.