Resident Evil Village DLC starring Chris Redfield was canned in favor of Rose Winters

Resident Evil timeline - Resident Evil 8
(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil Village's developers scrapped a DLC focusing on Chris Redfield in favor of one starring Rose Winters.

As stated by Resident Evil Village DLC director Kento Kinoshita in an interview with Japanese publication Inside Games (and translated by GamesRadar+), the development team focusing on the horror sequel's DLC originally had a very different direction in mind.

"At the time of the project," Kinoshita says, referencing the DLC's early days of planning, "there were some ideas that focused on Chris. But we wanted to focus on Rose," the director continues, revealing the staff preferred a DLC starring Rose as the protagonist instead of Chris getting in on the action again.

As such, Rose's new DLC chapter now wraps up the entire new Resident Evil saga, which began with Ethan Winters' debut back in Resident Evil 7 in 2017. Elsewhere in the interview, it's revealed that the DLC should be about four hours in length, making it significantly bigger than any past DLC for the series.

It's not surprising the Resident Evil Village DLC staff preferred to focus on a new character over Chris Redfield. The returning horror series icon had his own DLC chapter for Resident Evil 7, after all, and factored into Resident Evil Village both as a side character and a playable protagonist late into the game. 

Aside from Rose's new DLC chapter though, which launches as part of Resident Evil Village's Gold Edition next month on October 28, there's plenty more. Chris Redfield, Heisenburg, and Lady Dimitrescu join the fight as playable Mercenaries characters, and there's also a brand new third-person mode, which veterans of Resident Evil 2 and 3 might find more familiar. 

Elsewhere, there's also a brand new Resident Evil showcase coming in October, which should give us a look at Resident Evil Village's DLC, as well as the much-anticipated Resident Evil 4 remake

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.