Resident Evil series executive producer Jun Takeuchi says the series' overarching storyline could end within the next 10 years.

Speaking to Yahoo Japan (via machine translation), Takeuchi notes that with the upcoming Resident Evil Veronica, he thinks players will understand just how significant the game is to the plot of the series, as opposed to dismissing it as a side story.

This is in part due to some of the altered parts of the story featured in the remake; and while the Resident Evil remakes have generally been changing aspects as they go along, it's in service of eventually combining these remade classics with the most recent games in the series.

Takeuchi notes that even though the series overall plot was very much not planned from the start, and instead expanded as Capcom went along. On top of that, when planning for the Resident Evil 2 remake began, Capcom envisioned a 10-year plan for the storyline, with him teasing that there's a reason behind the order of the remakes – presumably why Capcom skipped to Resident Evil 4 when Code: Veronica and Zero were next in line.

With the release of Resident Evil: Requiem earlier this year, Takeuchi believes the first 10 years of Capcom's plan have come to an end and that, over the next 10 years, the series' conclusion will likely arrive.

However, he teases there will be multiple titles before then at least. Requiem's storyline did deal with an aging Leon and featured Grace Ashcroft as a potential character to carry on the series, so the seeds have definitely been planted. At least, with the story ending, Capcom will finally have to put Jill and Claire in a new game for once… Right?

You can check out our Resident Evil Requiem review if you're yet to play the horror game yourself, or our guide to Resident Evil Requiem's safe codes to help you through it.

Zangief may have only shown up for a short time in the new Street Fighter movie, but star Olivier Richters has responded to fan complaints, promising that his bulky warrior will show up again, as he and the rest of the cast have signed on for multiple movies.

On October 26, video game content creator Top Hat Gaming Man posted a video on YouTube complaining about Street Fighter's portrayal of Zangief, aka Red Cyclone, and his lack of screen time. However, Ritchers himself, otherwise known as The Dutch Giant, commented under the video, saying this isn't the last fans have seen of him.

"When they asked me to play Zangief, it was all very clear. There was one goal: show a glimpse of Zangief and his power, so we all want more. All actors, including me, signed for 3 movies," said Reacher season 3 star Ritchers. "If a sequel is made, Zangief will shine was the promise. Apart from that, you can't expect from a 2-hour movie with so many characters for everyone to shine in the first part. But anyways, thanks for wanting to see more of Zangief."

Now, Ritchers isn't all out confirming a sequel there, as Paramount has yet to confirm Street Fighter 2. But it is interesting that the cast signed onto three movies, meaning that the original plan included a sequel and a threequel. This is not a huge surprise, as the movie does end on a cliffhanger with Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, and Dhalsim setting off after Bison. You can read more about that in our Street Fighter ending explained.

Before the movie was even realised, director Kitao Sakurai teased that Street Fighter 2 was already being written. "It's something that we're thinking about and developing," he said to MovieWeb. "We definitely have a lot of ideas, and we're writing currently." However, Sakurai said a sequel depends on how the first movie performs. Street Fighter has earned $79.6 million so far against an $82 million production budget, not including marketing costs.

It sounds as though Street Fighter game studio Capcom wants the movie franchise to continue too. Chun-Li star Callina Liang recently revealed that the original script contained a scene where she cuts off her finger to prove her loyalty to Bison. However, that was replaced by a hand branding as Capcom was worried about deforming the character, which would make future appearances costly in the VFX department. Now, if there weren't more movies on the way, surely this wouldn't have been an issue.

Street Fighter is out in theaters now. For more, check out our Street Fighter review and list of Street Fighter movie Easter eggs, and keep up with upcoming video game movies on the way.

Chun-Li star Callina Liang has revealed that a few of her Street Fighter scenes were cut because video game company Capcom didn't want to damage the character's brand.

In the scene where Chun-Li goes undercover and infiltrates Lord M. Bison's (David Dastmalchian) criminal organization, Liang revealed that an earlier version of the script saw the fighter cut off her finger to prove her loyalty to Bison. However, the scene was cut because Capcom, the creator of the Street Fighter franchise, didn't approve.

"Chun-Li was originally supposed to chop off a finger, but Capcom … They went back and forth with the script, and eventually they decided that hand-branding was the better way to do it," said Laing to The Hollywood Reporter. "If she had no pinky for the rest of the [potential series], it would be deforming the character in a way."

The reason Chun-Li was at odds with Bison in the first place was to avenge her father's death. However, the movie found a way for Chun-Li to continue her mission in another way. Instead of losing a finger, Chun-Li has the mark of Shadaloo imprinted on her palm. Capcom's hesitation makes sense, as if Chun-Li had lost a finger this early on, the team would have to factor in editing her digit off in future sequels, which would have been costly. The issue would have also affected future Street Fighter merchandise.

But that's not all, as Liang said that another scene was altered as well. When Chun-Li is trying to convince Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) that the tournament is just a ploy for Bison to drain Rhu's powers, Liang says that Chun-Li was supposed to slap Ken. Centineo told Liang to hit him as hard as she could for real, but the footage never made it to the final edit. "We actually tried multiple takes where I physically slapped him across the face," added Liang. "There was no way to really fake it, so Noah just let me slap him in the face a couple of times. It didn't end up making it into the final cut, but it was fun."

Street Fighter is out in theaters now. For more, check out our Street Fighter review and list of Street Fighter movie Easter eggs, and keep up with upcoming video game movies on the way.

If you have an online account with Capcom, you may want to change your credentials. The developer and publisher of Resident Evil and Monster Hunter has suffered a cyberattack, and the information of a number of people has been compromised.

The attack occurred on October 19, according to a post from the company itself. "Capcom has determined that certain customer information associated with Capcom ID, an online membership account service operated by the company, was subject to unauthorized access by a third party," reads the statement.

"Capcom sincerely apologizes for the complications and concern this has caused its customers and other stakeholders," the studio adds.

Capcom ID is the overarching service for the online and live-service elements of the publisher's releases. If you've ever played any of the Monster Hunter or Street Fighter games online, you very likely have an account on there, even if it's not something you actively think about.

You need one to access various portals through, such as for the Resident Evil series, meaning you're probably registered even if you don't think you are. If you've played a Capcom game this decade, at the very least, I'd have a look at the information you may have provided here. Over 11,700,000 accounts are affected.

"Capcom has completed emergency response measures and has identified and addressed the attack method involved in this incident," the company's post on the matter adds. "Services that use Capcom ID, including games, remain available. Going forward, the company will begin contacting affected customers and has established dedicated customer-support channels for inquiries regarding this matter."

Expect an email in the coming days if you're directly impacted, then. I'd change your password just to be safe, though. Preventative measures are being assessed for the future.

Resident Evil Requiem's physical PS5 sales were nearly twice as large as its total Xbox sales, analyst finds

Resident Evil Requiem reportedly made more money from physical sales on PlayStation than it did on Xbox overall, making Sony's decision to kill discs look even more questionable.

Resident Evil Requiem is probably the biggest game of 2026 – at least until something comes out in a month's time – and Capcom's game has naturally become quite the hit, having sold 8 million copies the last time Capcom checked in, and was the fastest-selling game in the series to date.

Sony is planning to stop manufacturing new PlayStation discs starting in 2028, but Capcom doesn't seem too worried about it, though reports on the sales breakdown of Requiem may tell a different story.

As reported by Alinea Analytics' Rhys Elliott, Resident Evil Requiem sold 1.3 million copies on PS5 through Physical copies, making up about 15% of the game's revenue, as well as 30.2% of the game's revenue on PlayStation overall. However, the 1.3 million physical copies sold on PlayStation also made Capcom 1.8 times the revenue than the entirety of copies on Xbox across physical, digital, and Xbox PC sales.

PlayStation selling more than Xbox obviously isn't surprising, given there are seemingly far more PS5 consoles in homes than Xbox Series X|S consoles, and, on top of that, Resident Evil is a series that has been strongly associated with PlayStation throughout its life.

But this does make Sony's decision to kill off physical disks a bit more questionable, as one of the tentpole releases of 2026 is clearly still bringing in the numbers from physical game purchases. And while they are selling more physically now, being 100% digital doesn't necessarily mean those physical buyers would move over.

You can check out our Resident Evil Requiem review if you're yet to play the horror game yourself, or our guide to Resident Evil Requiem's safe codes to help you through it.

Most Resident Evil fans consider Resident Evil 7 the triumphant moment Capcom turned things around with a full-throated embrace of the series' single-player, survival horror roots after the highly divisive turn toward multiplayer action horror with Resident Evil 5 and 6. However, according to former Capcom manager Miguel Corti, there's a direct precursor to the dark period of action-heavy Resident Evil games, and it's actually one of the most beloved games in the entire series.

While Resident Evil: Code Veronica was universally acclaimed when it released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast, its legacy has wavered in the decades since due to what I consider straight-up dated game design that can come across as unnecessarily punishing these days. I'm confident the recently revealed remake will fix most of those problems, but it's safe to say the original release is among the most divisive games in the series, and for Corti, it's single-handedly to blame for what are undoubtedly the most hated Resident Evil games in 5 and 6.

In an exhaustive series of since-deleted Bluesky posts, Corti shared an enormous level of insight into Resident Evil 7's development as well as various tidbits on other games in the series. According to official Capcom materials, Corti joined the studio in 2007 and worked his way up to senior manager, so he's definitely someone who can speak on the series with some authority. In one of his Bluesky posts, he suggested there wouldn't be a Resident Evil 5 and 6 if it weren't for Code Veronica setting the stage first.

"Everyone always mentions the first 3 RE games and they seem to forget about Code Veronica," said Corti. "There is a direct line from CV to RE 5 and 6; CV is the game where the series went off the rails by trying to cram as many locales and plots as a Dreamcast disc could hold." The "real problem" with Code Veronica, in Corti's view, is that "many of the devs consider CV the best of the pre-RE4 titles," even though he "would argue constantly that RE2 is much better."

Is this even a debate? Resident Evil 2 is a universally beloved and iconic pillar of the survival horror genre, while one would be forgiven for calling Code Veronica a cult classic. Corti also points out that Code Veronica's opening cinematic is "a straight-up Die Hard/John Woo pastiche and there's nothing horror about it," which does in retrospect seem to be a tonal setup for Resident Evil 5 and 6. While the rest of the game definitely leans further into traditional survival horror, you wouldn't know it going off the very beginning.

"No shade on CV fans, but seeing how it had a direct, negative development on the franchise means I am pretty biased against it," Corti said. "Take my bias with a grain of salt."

Honestly, this is all water under the bridge for me. Resident Evil 5 and 6 weren't so bad that they permanently stained the franchise. Capcom has been dropping back-to-back survival horror bangers for almost 10 years at this point, and Zach Cregger's awesome Resident Evil movie proves the brand is healthier than ever on the film side, too. I'd say that more than makes up for a couple of so-so action games from 20 years ago, whether or not Code Veronica had anything to do with them.

Resident Evil 7 dev says a lot of the horror game's flaws were "vividly present" during development – "and roundly ignored"

As a huge fan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I found Resident Evil 7 appealed to me on a carnal level. The fact that it was a course correction from the glossy, over-the-top theatrics of its predecessor helped too. According to a producer on the sequel, we can thank The Last of Us for the indirect inspiration.

Over on BlueSky, Miguel Corti, a former senior manager of global production at Capcom, went long on the circumstances leading up to the seventh mainline entry of the storied series. "It may surprise you to learn that the originally planned Resident Evil 7 went through a few iterations," he writes.

"Instead of taking cues from Call of Duty, they were all coming from The Last of Us, with even a mandate to focus on narrative, since that seemed like the only rationale to make a single-player game anymore," he adds.

It may surprise you to learn that the originally planned RE7 went through a few iterations. Instead of taking cues from CoD, they were all coming from The Last of Us, with even a mandate to focus on narrative, since that seemed like the only rationale to make a single-player game anymore.

— @miguel-corti.bsky.social (@miguel-corti.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-10-19T16:42:32.632Z

He mentions Call of Duty because the FPS franchise's zombies mode had grown a formidable community by the early 2010s, making it a worthwhile touchstone for what people want from experiences involving the undead. However, Naughty Dog's dystopian parable very much absorbed a lot of that attention once it arrived.

The fact The Last of Us was both a commercial and critical darling was deeply appealing to the team on the ground, even though execs were happy with how Resident Evil 6 performed. "The devs wanted the critical acclaim other games were garnering, especially since many of them were obviously influenced by Resident Evil," Corti says. "So, Resident Evil 7, not only would it be narrative-driven, it would have even more lore connections."

The general approach of 6 was messy - it featured multiple characters, in a confusing story that didn't make clear additions to the mythology. 7 went through many iterations, but, in my view, wound up cleaner, more dialed in, and, to be frank, scarier, making it a win all around.

Sales were lower than The Last of Us, but most games come up short compared to Joel and Ellie's journey across the cordyceps-torn US. Resident Evil 7 re-invigorated the community, leading to 8 and this year's Requiem, and making 6 seem like a distant memory.

Resident Evil 7 dev says a lot of the horror game's flaws were "vividly present" during development – "and roundly ignored"

Street Fighter actor Callina Liang wants to star in Blumhouse-Atomic Monster's upcoming Dead by Daylight movie.

"I'm also a huge gamer. I have a PC setup at home... Right now, I'm playing a lot of Dead by Daylight," Liang told Variety. "I put in 100 hours into that game over the last two months. I met with someone at Blumhouse, and when they told me they were making Dead by Daylight into a movie, I screamed and slid off the couch."

Dead by Daylight is a four-versus-one horror game that puts one Killer against four Survivors (and it is genuinely so much fun to play as the Killer). Since its release back in 2016, there have been four video game spin-offs (one of which is a horror dating sim), a pinball machine, a board game, and a comic book series.

A movie adaptation was announced back in 2023, but there wasn't much movement on the project until 2026. In June, Blumhouse shared that Icelandic filmmaker Thordur Palsson is set to direct from a script by Crawl scribe Alexandre Aja and The Conjuring 2 co-writer David Leslie Johnston-McGoldrick.

"Someone on the creative team DM'd me and was like, 'Look at what we're doing; we're playing the game in the office for research,'" Liang continued. "I'm like, 'Guys, just call me. I can tell you everything you need to know about this game. You don't have to play it to find out.'"

Street Fighter is in theaters now. For more, check out our list of all the upcoming video game movies.

Ex-Capcom producer Miguel Corti says that Resident Evil 7's flaws were apparent during the game's development but were ignored.

In a thread on Bluesky, Corti says "It's great to see this game still generating critical discussion some 10 years later," and that while its flaws stand out compared to the remakes and sequels that followed over the years, he explains, "I can say a lot of the flaws were vividly present at the time, and roundly ignored."

Kicking off a long thread, he says a lot of Resident Evil 7 can be traced back to the critical and fan reception of Resident Evil 6.

"Capcom higher-ups were more than happy with RE6," Corti explains, "but the devs wanted the critical acclaim other games were garnering, especially since many of them were obviously influenced by RE." Notably, The Last of Us, with "a few iterations" taking inspiration from Naughty Dog's title. Corti notes that despite how convoluted the plot of Resident Evil 6 got, the original plan for its sequel was more convoluted nonsense: "It was so all over the place, I lost track of the versions."

Corti notes that a major reorganization at Capcom is how we got the Resident Evil 7 that released: "A mandate came down to redo RE7 from scratch," and, as such, a new dev team and director were attached. One that Corti describes as "very hands-on with the development" was ultimately the one who gave the team the "bombshell of an idea" to make the game first-person. He adds, "A lot of the crazier ideas in RE are just random things that someone on the dev team cottons onto."

While Resident Evil 7 revived the series in the hearts of many, it initially underperformed – at least compared to the panned duo of Resident Evil 5 and 6. Corti notes, "RE fans were confused by it, and non-fans either didn't want to touch horror or weren't sure what to make of it. Capcom was disappointed." And in fact, it was actually "Village and all the memes it generated" that helped the game earn "an RE4-level of reputation."

This prolonged development is also "One of the reasons I'm against genAI in games," Corti notes, saying "If the art director and EP could've had everything they envisioned out the gate, it would have been a terrible game" and that it was the back and forth around the game that made it what it was in the end.

A Resident Evil fan is remaking Zach Cregger's film as a PS1-style survival horror game with fixed camera angles

Resident Evil Veronica is the official title for the long-rumored remake of Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

Announced as part of a very memorable surprise reveal during the Summer Game Fest 2026 showcase, Resident Evil Veronica will bring back the cult classic 2000 release with a modern makeover. With Capcom confirming the upcoming horror game will be arriving in 2027, the developer is setting out to "preserve the essence of the original game", but just like the many excellent Resi remakes we've seen over the years, you can expect shiny new and improved graphics, plenty of gameplay enhancements, and more.

There's a lot of excitement surrounding the new game, with the remake quickly racking up two million Steam wishlists within a month of its reveal. That's not so surprising given Capcom's winning streak in 2026, with its new sci-fi IP Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, which has already earned its place (along with many other Resi games) as one of the best survival horror games around right now. So whether you can hardly wait to join Claire and Chris Redfield or you're curious to learn more about their sibling team-up, read on as I break down everything you need to know about Resident Evil Veronica.

Resident Evil Veronica release date speculation

The Resident Evil Veronica release date is currently set for sometime in 2027.

The surprise announcement of Code Veronica's return came with the news of the 2027 launch window, but we're still awaiting an exact release date to be confirmed. The line-up of upcoming games dropping in early 2027 is already quite stacked, with the likes of Stranger Than Heaven, Fable, and Exodus, and more all releasing within the first four months of the year.

I'm curious to see if Resident Evil Veronica will add another release to a very busy period, but it would be fitting if it was released later in 2027 for the spooky season. I'll be keeping an eye out for updates from Capcom.

Resident Evil Veronica platforms confirmed

Capcom confirmed the Resident Evil Veronica platforms in the initial reveal trailer, with the remake set to land on PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X.

With lots of Resi goodness landing on the Switch 2 in 2026, it's great to see Veronica complete the set and join the likes of Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 3 Remake, and Resident Evil 4 Remake along with Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil Village, and Requiem. Better still, it appears Veronica will be launching on all platforms simultaneously in 2027.

Resident Evil Veronica trailer

Resident Evil Veronica story

Resident Evil Veronica's story is set to be something of a reimagining of the original game's storyline that promises to deliver a "chilling new entry in survival horror".

Claire Redfield, who appeared in Resident Evil 2 Remake alongside Leon Kennedy, is one of two leading protagonists, with Veronica taking place three months after the biological disaster she survived her way through in Raccoon City. As we see a nod to in the initial reveal trailer when the older woman says, "I hate to say, but your brother is, well, quite odd", Claire has traveled to France in search of her sibling, Chris Redfield. But things take a turn when Umbrella steps in (those dastardly fiends!).

Umbrella captures Claire and brings her to the mysterious, remote Rockfort Island. And because she can't get a moment's peace, this island has also been hit by another biological disaster. With no cozy family reunion on the cards, Claire now finds herself in another fight for survival in classic Resi fashion.

The original game became something of a cult classic for some of its goofier aspects and memorable moments, of which fans have been fondly remembering since the remake was officially confirmed. It also features Resident Evil 1 and 5 baddie Albert Wesker back in his evil villain throne for one of the most iconic instalments in the franchise.

With a Wesker clone named Zeno having appeared in Resident Evil Requiem, I have a feeling Capcom is building out the connective tissue between Code Veronica, as the most popular among the Resident Evil spin-offs, and Resident Evil 5 – which could well be the next mainline Resi game to get the remake treatment.

Either way, it's clear that Capcom is aiming to keep the essence of the Code Veronica alive, and I can't wait to see how they bring this story into the modern era and put a fresh spin on it.

Resident Evil Veronica gameplay

Resident Evil Veronica's gameplay will be modernized to bring it in line with some of the latest Resident Evil games in the series. While we've yet to see any gameplay in action, or see what changes it will include, we expect it to be like other remakes in the Resident Evil timeline, with all of the survival horror goodness that comes with.

And while the reveal trailer was in first-person to keep us guessing, a producer has confirmed Veronica will be a third-person experience.

In the original, which was broken up into chapters, there were more playable characters during certain sections. While Claire still took center stage for the most part, there was also Steve Burnside, a prisoner on Rockfort Island, and Chris Redfield, who we haven't seen since Resident Evil Village. We're guessing this will once again be the case in Resident Evil Veronica.

For more Resi goodness, check out our ranking of the best Resident Evil games, or explore the Resident Evil movie.

The Street Fighter movie has hurricane-kicked its way onto screens, and brought with it a World Warrior tournament full of Easter eggs, famous fighters, and special moves.

It might not be quite as extensive a list as our breakdown of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie Easter eggs, but the Street Fighter movie is nothing if not a love letter to the games, and features an expansive roster of familiar fighters, tonnes of special moves pulled directly from Street Fighter II (and beyond), and even several stages recreated from the games.

So head below to see what we spotted, and let us know in the comments if you clocked anything we missed! Once you're done here, be sure to check out our Street Fighter movie review, and our deep dive into the Street Fighter movie ending.

Every fighter from the games in the Street Fighter movie

The Street Fighter movie features a massive line-up of characters from the games. Not all of them can be found on the character select screen, but most have featured in numerous Street Fighter games since the series debuted in 1987.

Most, if not all, are also rocking their iconic outfits, making this – aesthetically, at least – one of the more authentic video game adaptations ever. The full list of combatants in the Street Fighter movie in alphabetical order is as follows:

• Akuma
• Balrog
• Blanka
• Cammy
• Chun-Li
• Dan Hibiki
• Dhalsim
• Don Sauvage
• E. Honda
• Gouken
• Guile
• Joe
• Juli
• Ken
• M. Bison
• Ryu
• Sagat
• Vega
• Zangief

Special moves from the games featured in the Street Fighter movie

There are plenty of iconic special moves from the Street Fighter games that appear in the Street Fighter movie, many of which have been recreated frame for frame. You can check many of them out in Paramount's own Street Fighter game moves video, but there are many others we spotted as well:

• Ryu - Hadouken, Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch
• Ken - Axe Kick, Hell Wheel, Dragonlash Kick, Chinbuster
• Chun-Li - Lightning Kick, Spinning Bird Kick, Falling Crane, Hazanshu
• E. Honda - Hundred Hand Slap, Sumo Headbutt, Oicho Throw, Power Stomp
• Zangief - Russian Suplex, Cyclone Lariat
• Dhalsim - Yoga Mummy, Karma Kick, Yoga Mountain
• Balrog - Crazy Rush, Buffalo Headbutt
• Guile - Flash Kick
• Blanka – Electric Thunder
• M. Bison - Psycho Crusher
• Akuma - Empyrean's End

Stages from the games that appear in the Street Fighter movie

Stage recreations are fewer and further between in the Street Fighter movie, as much of the fighting takes place in the World Warrior tournament arena in Metrolao City, instead of fights taking place across the globe. However, there are still some fun callbacks to several familiar stages, including:

• Ayutthaya Ruins, Thailand – the setting of Ryu and Sagat's 1987 fight for the inaugural World Warrior tournament championship
• Car bonus stage – Ken is seen dismantling a car with his feet and fists during an early montage
• Bathhouse/Kapukon Yu – Ryu and E. Honda fight in a sauna room for a place in the second World Warrior tournament, a callback to E. Honda's iconic bathhouse stage

Street Fighter movie Easter Eggs

Ryu vs Sagat – In the games, Ryu defeats Sagat to become the winner of the inaugural World Warrior tournament. This exact same pairing and outcome unfolds in animated flashback form in the Street Fighter movie.

"Round 1: fight!" – The iconic Street Fighter II starting announcement is heard over the Street Fighter movie's title card.

M. Bison laugh – M. Bison actor David Dastmalchian recreates the 'M. Bison says yes' gif that has almost certainly popped up in your group chat at some point.

Chaos Games poster – Outside Ryu's warehouse apartment, there are several posters for the 'Chaos Games'. Could this be a deep cut reference to crossover fighting game SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom?

Street Fighter II intro – The iconic Street Fighter II title screen, featuring two men fighting in the shadow of a skyscraper, is recreated in the Street Fighter movie. Bonus Easter egg: the two men fighting are none other than Talk To Me and Bring Her Back directors Danny and Michael Philippou!

Street Fighter II anime callbacks – There are several references to 1994's Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. Most notably: Chun-Li stepping into the shower in the live-action Street Fighter movie echoes an infamous scene in the anime, while Chun-Li later disfiguring masked fighter Vega also echoes the result of their face-off in the anime.

"For me, it's Tuesday" – This M. Bison moment is a callback/straight lift of a legendary line from the otherwise terrible 1994 live-action movie. There, Raul Julia's M. Bison says: "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."

Street Fighter themes – The themes for both Street Fighter and Street Fighter II are part of the movie's score, among countless needle drops.

Creator cameos – Several creators, influencers, and esports players can be spotted in Bison's prison during the Blanka vs Ryu fight, including Justin Wong and Maximilian Dood.

"You lose" – M. Bison's (anticlimactic) final line is, of course, a nod to the Street Fighter II announcer's blunt statement when the player loses a fight. We can still sense the disappointment in his voice.

Street Fighter is out in theaters now. For more, check out our list of upcoming video game movies, and our ranking of the best fighting games.

Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival is exactly what the witch doctor ordered this spooky season. It's gory to an extreme, the scent of blood and latex almost palpable as I guide protagonist Aiden Lynch through a kinky pansexual death cult's hideout, into a pulse-pounding BDSM club, before evading The Chatterer in The Labyrinth's chambers of torment. Peppered with nods to survival horror titans and off-kilter Xbox 360 games like Condemned alike, I think our Hellraiser Revival review score is fair: This might not the freshest kill on the chopping block, but it's definitely a delight for genre sickos (and sickos in general, ya sadists). That said, I cannot get on board with its first-person perspective. Like, at all.

I can tell what developer Saber Interactive was gunning for. Much like Silent Hill Townfall, the new game takes notes from the first-person terrors of Resident Evil 7 to create an oppressive, immersive environment that implicates you, The Player, as its main character. However, it doesn't succeed. I think Hellraiser Revival would have been a better third-person action game than a first person one, and it all starts with one simple question.

Who are you?

A smart survival horror game understands the importance of perspective. It's what makes Resident Evil's Ethan Winters such a powerful everyman figure, his face always obscured in gameplay, cutscenes, and promotional materials (until the third-person Resident Evil Village update) to reinforce the notion that who he is doesn't matter as much as what he thinks, feels, and does.

It allowed Capcom to distance us, for a moment, from its emblematic heroes – Leon, Chris, Claire, Jill – whose image had long become synonymous with the survival horror franchise. Even with first-person available in Resident Evil Requiem, playing a first-person game as Leon S. Kennedy feels illegal. I want to see and play as him, not myself, because I am already invested in the character. Ethan's story is no less important than Leon's, but it serves a different purpose.

While the vagaries of Ethan's backstory allow us to imprint ourselves upon his character, Hellraiser Revival's Aiden Lynch has plenty going for him already. We see him in third-person cutscenes right from the jump, catching glimpses of his personal tastes and indulgences (to be SFW about it) before we're dropped into the action from a first-person view. Already, it's discombobulating. Am I supposed to feel like the everyman here, or is Aiden a fully-formed character whose journey, backstory, and personal stakes I'll be exploring?

Four hours in, I can't figure out whether Aiden is a Leon or an Ethan. And, look, I really like the dude. Aiden clawed himself back from addiction and jail stints by finding a new obsession in his girlfriend, Sunny; who am I to judge his new drug-of-choice?

I respect the guy for heading into BDSM hell to save her soul. I am always pro-Wife Guys in video games, and Aiden is no exception. But he's definitely not got the combat chops of either Leon or Ethan going for him – even if one of them is a bioterror vet and the other is literally made of mould.

Fighting chance

To be as blunt as the weapons Aiden wields, melee combat in first-person categorically sucks. It always sucks, in my opinion, with the exception of one-man tank Kyle Crane bashing zombie skulls in with electrified crowbars in Dying Light.

There needs to be a weightiness to it to keep me locked in, and with no way to block attacks or do anything but duck out of the way, getting into brawls as Aiden is perhaps fittingly awkward. Plus, he's stark naked for a good chunk of the opening hour. In his position, I guess I'd be a bit too preoccupied by a cold breeze in the nether regions to worry about my technique.

But I don't want to let Hellraiser Revival off that easy. How much of this airy, weightless fumbling would feel more grounded if it was made with typical third-person combat manoeuvres in mind? How much more like an actual Hellraiser movie would it look if we could see the hero's face for the majority of the journey instead of his blood-slicked palms swinging a machete through thin air? Is trading good combat for a front-row seat to see gore really necessary when this is, first and foremost, a survival horror action game?

I can tell that Saber understands this to an extent. We see quite a lot of Aiden in third-person cutscenes when the cenobites are in play, while others (like the ones in cult HQ) are in first – which makes the inconsistency all the more frustrating. I'd have liked to see Hellraiser commit to one or the other.

Alternatively, it could have gone full Dying Light: The Beast, with a strong visual hero persona built through third-person cinematics while first-person gameplay dials up the immersion. But chopping and changing between the two perspectives feels ultimately confused in Hellraiser, with the purpose of those third-person cutscenes reading as opportunities to show off the cenobites rather than build on Aiden's character.

Maybe such is the way of licensed games. We're here to see Pinhead et al, not necessarily Aiden and Sunny. But in its attempt to align itself with the latest trend in survival horror, Hellraiser Revival misses Resident Evil's most important lesson: some heroes need to be seen to be believed.

Explore some of the best horror games to keep you company this Halloween...

Just one month after Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie landed in theaters and smashed box office expectations, The Walking Dead's Carl Grimes star Chandler Riggs is releasing his own Resident Evil film.

Chandler's upcoming short film titled 'Biohazard' is based on one of the best Resident Evil games, you guessed it, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The short follows Riggs as Ethan Winters as his search for his missing wife leads him to the violent and infected Baker family. The movie is 19 minutes long and stars fellow The Walking Dead star Jason Dougl as the evil Baker family patriarch Jack Baker, Mary Rachel Quinn, Eugenie Bondurant, Johnathan O’Neil, and Sam Coyles.

The first trailer for Biohazard, which was released via IGN's YouTube channel, shows Riggs' protagonist pleading with a police officer to help him escape from the "fucking crazy" Baker family. At the end of the clip, we see one of the Bakers crawling on the floor. The short film is written and directed by Riggs, who is a huge Resident Evil fan, and uses little VFX, opting for practical sets and effects to mimic the terror of the game. Riggs has since posted the video on Instagram, which you can see below.

But Riggs isn't trying to reheat Cregger's nachos. The actor told IGN that he started work on the passion project before the new Resident Evil movie had even been announced. "We were in pre-production when the article came out that Zack Cregger was going to do his [movie]," said Riggs. "We were trying to beat the clock and get it out about a month ago, but parts just didn't align that way."

However, although Riggs hasn't seen Cregger's movie yet, he says he "cannot wait" and would also be interested in working with the Weapons director in the future. "A huge reason for me even doing this in the first place is that I love being on set and collaborating with cool people, and that's all it is at the end of the day," said Riggs, adding, "So, if [Cregger] wants to continue in the universe, I'm all for it. Listen, my phone is open. Hit my line!"

Biohazard releases on the internet on October 14. For more, see our Resident Evil movie review, and keep up with new video game adaptations on the way.

Hideo Kojima has finally offered his review of Resident Evil – and it sounds like he's a fan of Zach Cregger's take on the hit horror franchise.

The movie draws on the lore of the games, but isn't an exact adaptation of a single title. Instead, it takes place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2.

"I wasn't particularly interested, but since it's a new film by director Zach Cregger, I watched the movie Resident Evil," Kojima wrote on Twitter (via the site's automatic translation).

"Right from the start, it hits you with BGM in the style of The Thing. It relentlessly piles on classical horror staging, horror scenarios, and a torrent of jump scares all the way to the end," he continued. "This isn't a film adaptation of Resident Evil—it's a movie about the players (remote control operators) who played Resident Evil. It reminded me of how I felt when I played the first Bio on PS (1996), kinda like the Bryan in this movie. I kept getting game over and over, spamming 'F◯◯◯!' nonstop lol."

Plus, Kojima was pleased to get some merch for Tom Cruise's new movie, Digger: "I'm also thrilled that I managed to snag the pamphlet for The Dig." Check out the tweet below.

A typical rule of thumb for a Kojima movie review is that, the longer the post, the more positive he feels about the film. This is a decent sized review by those standards – much better than the six-word review for Madame Web (or the Electric State review we're still waiting for), anyway.

Our own Resident Evil movie review awards the movie 4 stars, with our verdict reading: "Frightening, funny and exceedingly bloody, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is a horror-comedy to match the best the genre has to offer, and an easy frontrunner for the best video game movie to date. Cregger's hot streak continues."

For more, check out our guide on the Resident Evil movie ending explained, or our ranking of the best Resident Evil games.

Dragon's Dogma 2 : Dark Arisen is out, and true to the developers words, it's proving a lot harder than the original version of the RPG.

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen's lead dev said the friction is key to the experience, and promised that the new expansion of Capcom's 2024 RPG has been designed to "offer battles with an even greater sense of tension and challenge than the main game." Ahead of launch, Capcom said the new Lost Rites dungeons are to be challenged at level 20, while Forsaken Dominion – the main questline featured in the new region of Norgan – is recommended for level 40.

I started Lost Rites and Forsaken Dominion at level 80 and got absolutely decimated countless times.

And I'm glad to report it's not just a skill issue on my part, as one glance at the Dragon's Dogma 2 subreddit shows that Arisen all over the globe are getting battered. One post accuses returning Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen director Kento Kinoshita of being a liar, saying, "Bro said something like level 50 is a good starting point for this DLC and i went in on my lvl275 character," adding, "Bro this shit is still hard I'm getting 4 shot by random mobs and the trailer dragon is currently fucking me up severely."

Elsewhere on the subreddit, there are a number of meme posts and videos recounting how the snowy tundra of Norgan is beating them down mercilessly, with others sharing tales about how they hoarded relics only for a snow ogre to steal them all.

That being said, these aren't really complaints. Everyone seems super pleased to be getting their butts kicked by Dragon's Dogma 2 after a two-and-a-half year wait. One players says "the new DLC is everything I wanted," praising enemies that are much smarter and harder than before. It went down a treat with reviews, too, as Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen nabbed a higher score than the first game's DLC.

Dragon's Dogma 2 update finally gives the RPG the performance boost it desperately needed, and it's so good that it's even lowered the PC system requirements.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is back in the limelight now after its 2024 launch thanks to its Dark Arisen DLC, which lands tomorrow – and is apparently superior to its 2013 predecessor.

A whopping 13 years ago now, the original Dragon's Dogma RPG from Capcom got its own Dark Arisen expansion, and admittedly, I loved it. Everything from the Bitterblack Isle to the formidable foes the DLC boasted had me in a chokehold – and this week, the new Dragon's Dogma 2 Dark Arisen content threatens to do the same.

And, what's more, it appears to be impressing critics more than its decade-old predecessor did.

Over on Metacritic, the Dragon's Dogma 2 Dark Arisen expansion boasts a solid score of 84. That's pretty dang good, and the small snippets provided from reviews solidify as much.

One outlines how the DLC has "made Dragon's Dogma 2 a must-play RPG," for example, while others say it accomplishes what the original game's own follow-up content did and then some – so, yeah.

It seems as though it's shaping up to be quite a time.

As for the original Dragon's Dogma and its own Dark Arisen DLC… well, it's got a score of 81 on the platform. That's not bad at all, but it's notably a few points under its successor, which is exciting.

The new take on Dark Arisen's chaos is mere hours away at this point, so I do also wonder what fans will think of it. For reference, the OG expansion's got a "user score" of 7.9 – will tomorrow's prove even higher?

I certainly hope so. We're talking everything from enhanced gameplay to new adventures in snowy, unforgiving Norgan and even an improved character creator, as though I didn't spend enough time in it a couple years back.

All that's left to do now is wait, I suppose. If you've not preordered it yet yourself, Dark Arisen is live on Steam and other platforms for $30 – a small price to pay, should critics' thoughts on the DLC so far ring true.

Capcom enlists Ron Perlman for Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen promo, hopefully pays him more than the sandwich and $40 he got for Fallout.

Fallout and Hellboy star Ron Perlman is teaming up with Capcom again to introduce you to Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen.

Despite being best known for his myriad film and TV roles, Perlman is a pretty prolific voice actor, especially in games. His most famous contribution is to the Fallout series, where he serves as the narrator in multiple games, as well as the TV anchor that announces the bombs dropping in Fallout 4. Notably, he had no clue the series would be a success, saying that he was caught off guard when he heard there was a sequel coming, as he recalls working on the first entry as "I did a couple of lines, and, you know, got my $40 and my sandwich and went home."

And while never appearing in a Capcom game, Perlman did appear in 2020's Monster Hunter film, wearing an extremely anime-looking wig that did not suit his demeanor in the slightest. Capcom is clearly happy with that collab, as it has announced it'll be teaming up with Perlman to introduce players to Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen.

Perlman will be narrating a "new video sharing a brief glimpse at what awaits in Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen," with Perlman lending "his voice to guide us through Norgan and beyond," with the video set to debut later today (October 7, 2026 at 3pm PT | 6pm ET | 11pm BST) ahead of its launch on October 9, 2026.

While this may seem like a somewhat random collab, it actually mirrors a video Capcom released at the launch of the base game, with John Wick and Kung Fu Panda star Ian McShane serving as narrator. And unless I missed something, McShane does not feature as a voice actor in the game, and I don't believe Perlman is pegged to be part of the Dark Arisen cast either. But let's hope he got more than $40 and a sandwich to do this video at least.

Dragon's Dogma 2 update finally gives the RPG the performance boost it desperately needed, and it's so good that it's even lowered the PC system requirements

For now, it seems we're getting a steady diet of new Resident Evil games alongside remakes of the classic series. But, eventually, Capcom's going to run out of games to remake, right? It seems the publisher is already prepared for this eventuality. In fact, executive producer Jun Takeuchi says the company's been preparing for an eventual "crossover" between these two lineages since Resident Evil Village.

"Currently, 'Resident Evil' operates on a two-pronged approach: the numbered titles allow players to experience the ongoing drama of the series, while the remake series lets them experience the past," Takeuchi says in a Japanese magazine special published for the series' 30th anniversary.

"Eventually, the remake series will catch up to the era of the numbered titles, and the mechanisms for that are already being considered. In fact, preparations for this have been gradually underway since 'Resident Evil Village,' including the appearance of names like Umbrella and Spencer, and the reappearance of Raccoon City in 'Requiem.' This is all in preparation for a crossover."

At least, that's one version of what Takeuchi has to say, as presented by the Resident Evil Wiki. You'll find it translated slightly differently from other sources, whether that's RENEWS on Twitter or a DeepL or Google Translate rendering of the Japanese text. The gist seems to be the same in every case, though – Capcom's been preparing for the remakes to catch up to the newer numbered games, and it's been seeding references to the OG lore in preparation for a future "crossover."

Naturally, some fans are already taking this as confirmation that remakes of Resident Evil 5 and 6 are in development, but you should probably hold back your excitement for now. Given the success of the previous Resident Evil remakes and the fact that Resident Evil Veronica is currently on the way, it's a pretty safe bet that more remakes will follow, but this quote stops several steps shy of actually confirming that.

Personally, I'm much more interested in what this "crossover" is. In a way, Requiem already served as a crossover between old and new Resident Evil games, pulling elements from all the games that had come before into an expansive blend that brought Umbrella Corporation and Raccoon City back to the forefront of the story.

"'Resident Evil RE:2' was a title we decided to make if '7' was successful. The 'Resident Evil' series, which began on PlayStation, didn't have easy access to its early titles at the time, and even if people could play them, they were decades old. So, it also embodies the meaning of 'reboot' and 'response,'" Takeuchi explains, seemingly referring to the "RE" in both "remake" and "Resident Evil."

"You should understand the meaning of the crossover before the 'Resident Evil' series celebrates its 40th anniversary," Takeuchi continues. "Since we're on the subject, let me give you a hint: 'Requiem' isn't just a title chosen for its meaning of 'requiem.' The spelling of Requiem (REQUIEM) contains not only the 'RE (response)' mentioned earlier, but also a 'Q (question).' In other words, this 'Requiem' presents both an 'answer' and a 'question.' I will explain the meaning of that at some point in the future."

I think Takeuchi is saying that we'll see this crossover bear fruit by 2036, though I don't even want to try to start unpacking all this "question" and "answer" business. I believe we can be confident on one count, at least: Capcom definitely wants to give us another decade of Resident Evil.

These are the best Resident Evil games of all time.

I had a feeling Zach Cregger's new Resident Evil movie was exactly what the franchise needed, and now data from Alinea Analytics proves it: several Resident Evil games have received a nice sales boost, especially on PS5, after Capcom unleashed some well-timed discounts when the film released this month. While Capcom discounts helped encourage the surge, Resident Evil film lead Austin Abrams' screaming face sweetened the deal.

Alinea head of market analysis Rhys Elliott explains in a September 25 Substack post, Cregger's perfectly obscene Resident Evil movie about a medical courier (Abrams) stupidly getting stuck in Raccoon City after dark had "the biggest opening in the 24-year history of Resi films." It's also the most successful video game movie yet with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and its biohazardous blockbuster effect is spreading to the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes.

When ignoring Capcom's franchise-wide discounts, data suggests Cregger's movie directly influenced a 64% and 54% uptick in PS5 sales for RE2 and RE4, respectively.

"On Steam, the same movie effect is a much milder +11% to +14%," says Elliott.

In terms of pure player count, which would also include people who own the game jumping back in after the movie's release, "Resident Evil 2's remake jumped +48%" in daily players across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, says Elliott, as the game went from about 78,000 daily active users to nearly 116,000. Its price was chopped into bits, from $39.99 to lucky $7.99.

Cregger told GamesRadar+ his Resident Evil movie – which doesn't feature any characters from the games – unfolds "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2's t-Virus outbreak, so it also makes sense that Resident Evil 2 benefits from it most. The 2019 remake's sales "nearly doubled on PS5," Elliott adds.

Meanwhile, Resident Evil 3 remake's daily players are up 25%, and Resident Evil 4 remake's player count lifted 24%. The new Resident Evil Requiem got a tinier bump with only a 20% daily player increase after Cregger's movie and Capcom discounts, but it didn't necessarily need the help – Elliott says, "Revenue-wise, [Requiem is] outpacing every other game in the franchise and will certainly leapfrog the Resident Evil 4 remake's $600M+ when all is said and done."

"Almost all the copy movement was on PlayStation," Elliott reminds us. Resident Evil players don't care about their Steam points, or maybe it's just that the franchise has been associated with PlayStation since its macabre beginning in 1998. But now that the Resident Evil franchise finally has a film that made me laugh and white-knuckle my popcorn bucket with equal intensity, there's no telling where it goes next.

Resident Evil has some other movie gems – just see our list of the best Resident Evil movies ranked.

The most terrifying zombie creature in the Resident Evil movie was actually performed by real stunt people, a new video has shown.

In the film, a horrifying amalgamation of all the zombified victims so far chases Austin Abrams's Bryan around on his quest to reach the Raccoon City hospital. It rolls around in a tangle of limbs, and it pursues Bryan all the way to the end.

The film's movement coordinator, Jakub Hudlický, shared a video to his Instagram of the performers tied together and producing the creature's creepy rolling motion.

"Let’s take it all the way back to the beginning – July '25 – when @filmka_stunt_team, @cirk_la_putyka and I first came together to explore one big question: how can the Merged Monster moooove?" he wrote in the caption to the post.

Now, it's not totally clear if the final version we see in the movie is performed practically, or if this was just a test for VFX reference. Still, it's very impressive.

The zombie monster can't actually be found in any of the Resident Evil games, fitting with Zach Cregger's assertion before the film was released that it would not be directly adapting the games but rather be inspired by them. The movie takes place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2.

The Resident Evil movie has been incredibly well received, scoring 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Our own Resident Evil movie review awards the film 4 stars, and it reads: "Frightening, funny and exceedingly bloody, Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is a horror-comedy to match the best the genre has to offer, and an easy frontrunner for the best video game movie to date. Cregger's hot streak continues."

You can watch Resident Evil in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to the Resident Evil movie ending explained.

In case you haven't heard, the Resident Evil movie rocks. Zach Cregger's singular adaptation of the beloved Capcom video games is a 95-minute shot of t-Virus adrenaline that does a better job of adapting the series to film than any of the previous seven movies, despite telling an original story and failing to include a single game character.

This caused something of a backlash ahead of release, leading Cregger to embark on a self-professed "apology tour" during interviews. But I'm here to tell you all that Cregger was right: more filmmakers need to be brave enough to tell their own stories when adapting video games, and stay true to the source material in other ways, even if it means leaving fan-favorite figures behind.

Despite taking place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2, on the day of the t-Virus outbreak, Cregger's Resident Evil movie doesn't feature the iconic likes of Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Nemesis or any of the myriad characters and monsters we know are running around the streets of Raccoon City at this exact time. Instead, it focuses on medical courier Bryan, an average Joe who's comically out of his depth when faced with seemingly unkillable zombies and even gnarlier mutated creatures. His simple goal: to get the basis of an antidote for the infection from A to B.

The movie's only acknowledgement of Resident Evil's outrageously convoluted lore is a brief moment of exposition revealing that (who else but) the Umbrella Corporation is behind the t-Virus outbreak. This side of Resident Evil, along with the well-explored characters, evidently wasn't of interest to Cregger.

And who can blame him – we had six Milla Jovovich-led movies featuring cosplay versions of familiar Resident Evil figures in daft fan-fiction scenarios that sort of looked a bit like the games if you squinted. These movies were at least fun, which can't really be said about the disastrous 2021 movie Welcome to Raccoon City – an adaptation so misguided in its efforts to please fans that it featured originally cut character Lisa Trevor, but was somehow the worst of the lot.

Instead, Cregger, a clearly passionate Resident Evil fan who also happens to be one of the most accomplished and exciting contemporary filmmakers, has adapted Resident Evil in the ways that matter: translating the tone, atmosphere, structure, absurdity, and the you-know-it-if-you-see-it feel of the games to film in a way that feels practically groundbreaking.

Lone survivor

Everyman Bryan might be a new kind of protagonist for a Resident Evil story (more akin to Ethan at the start of 7 than one-man-army Leon), but the idea of following a single isolated character through a nightmare gauntlet is standard operating procedure for the series. No time for idle chit-chat when you've got mutated beasties to kill and arcane sub-objectives to complete.

There's also the undeniable fact that most of the games simply aren't suited for a 1:1 translation to film. Resident Evil 2 might be an all-time classic, but Leon or Claire running laps around the RPD building to stay out of Mr. X's reach is unlikely to lend itself to compelling cinema. And the less said about the B-movie stories and dialogue, the better.

Despite his passion for the series, Cregger is smart enough to know that if you want to experience Resident Evil 4, the best way to do that will always be to play the game. This has long been the case for video game adaptations – particularly on the big screen – which have typically loosely adapted the stories and the characters out of necessity in a way that satisfies no one. Beyond a handful of specific examples – The Last of Us on TV among them – that truly lend themselves to faithful adaptation, it's almost always going to be the case that using the worlds as a jumping-off point for new stories, while honoring the ethos of the games, will yield more satisfying results for fans and newcomers.

We're living through the golden age of video game adaptations, akin to the position superhero cinema was in around the early days of the MCU. And just like superhero cinema was no longer treated purely as disposable kids' fare by a generation of filmmakers who grew up reading comics, as a generation of filmmakers who grew up playing video games move into positions of power in Hollywood, the approach to adapting them has become increasingly sophisticated. There have already been a number of successful examples on TV, including Fallout and Arcane, neither of which adapts specific stories from the games, but still manage to stay true to their respective worlds. Resident Evil is the first true success story on film, at least one put out by a major studio.

Of course, there are examples of this approach not working out in the past. 2016's Assassin's Creed, starring Michael Fassbender, wasn't a million miles away from Cregger's Resident Evil in its use of a new cast of characters in a familiar setting and scenario. But without casting aspersions, it's fair to say that Assassin's Creed director Justin Kurzel – the extremely accomplished filmmaker behind the likes of Snowtown and The True History of the Kelly Gang – probably didn't understand Assassin's Creed in the same way that Cregger does Resident Evil, and it showed.

A new way forward

The discourse around Resident Evil has been a bummer to see as a long-serving fan of the games and an equally big fan of Cregger. Here, at long last, a series as storied and full of potential as Resident Evil has enlisted a filmmaker with the vision and talent to craft something that lives up to the legacy of the games – which he accomplished and then some – and the instinct of many is to tear the movie down because it isn't a 1:1 translation. I, for one, don't want to see the same thing again, simply in live action; that experience is open to me again anytime by booting up my PlayStation. I'll always opt for something new, as long as it feels true to the world it's bringing to the screen.

It's too early to say whether or not filmmakers will learn the lessons of Cregger's Resident Evil. We've yet to get a proper glimpse of Wes Ball's The Legend of Zelda movie, though given comments from Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto recently that the movie would be inspired by the history of the whole series, and some sneaky set photos that appear to feature a mix of costumes from different eras, I'll be surprised if it's a faithful rendering of a specific entry. Better it captures the spirit of the series first and foremost, followed by any specifics which support that.

As for Resident Evil, despite saying he's had ideas for a sequel, it doesn't seem all that likely Cregger will return – and who can blame him. While many consider the ending abrupt, you can't deny that it closes the loop on Bryan as a character, and serves as a tragic origin story for a hulking Raccoon City sub-boss; you could almost imagine Leon stumbling across his voice message for Michelle in Raccoon City General Hospital's subterranean car park before going on to take him out with a few well-placed magnum shots to that bulging eye. As far as adapting a video game goes, Cregger has achieved an easy S+ rank.

Resident Evil is out now. For more, check out our ranking of the best Resident Evil movies and our spoiler-filled Resident Evil movie ending explained.

Capcom has finally revealed a new Ace Attorney game, but rather than Ace Attorney 7, it's a VR version of Dual Destinies.

This month marked 10 years since Ace Attorney's last new title out with Spirit of Justice, and to say the fanbase has gotten a bit ravenous is an understatement. Granted, the last 10 years or so have been good for the fanbase in the sense that we finally got translated versions of the Great Ace Attorney duology and Ace Attorney Investigations 2 after years, but the people want Ace Attorney 7.

Capcom has expressed its desire for Ace Attorney – alongside Mega Man and Devil May Cry – to become on par with its powerhouse series of Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and Monster Hunter. Given Mega Man's new game was announced shortly after that comment, and there are no more Ace Attorney games left to re-release, the fabled 7 has only felt like a matter of time, with fans waiting with bated breath.

Well today is the day, Capcom has announced a new Ace Attorney game… but rather than Ace Attorney 7, it's a VR port of Ace Attorney 5 Dual Destinies. Granted, the game has been developed and published by Amanta K.K. as opposed to Capcom, but it's safe to say the fanbase isn't exactly pleased that the new release in the franchise is a VR-only version of what many consider to be the worst mainline entry in the series.

Granted, I do find that VR adaptations of existing games can result in great things, which Capcom has proven before with the Resident Evil 4 VR port, but this is more of a case of poor timing than anything else. Plus, some have pointed out there is one more Ace Attorney game (outside of the Professor Layton crossover) that could be translated, the Japan-exclusive VR game known as The VR-20 Incident.

For what it's worth, I do personally think Ace Attorney 7 is on the way. Capcom has clearly been investing in the series by translating the missing titles, and the idea that it wants it to be one of its tentpole franchises clearly means something is in the works, right? Just like with Devil May Cry… I hope.

After the success of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Capcom has said it wants to revive more dormant series.

Needless to say, things could've gone better for Monster Hunter Wilds on PC. The hit game suffered a plethora of performance problems and other issues, leading to a decidedly mixed reception on Steam. Ahead of new expansion Ascendance, the devs are hoping to learn more about adapting to the platform, compared to the needs of consoles.

"We've been working hard on bringing the lessons learned from the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds to bear on Ascendance," Ryozo Tsujimoto, a producer on the series, tells VGC, "and it just takes a lot of time and research to examine what it is you need to achieve on PC to make the game perform well on a variety of hardware."

Therein lies the difficulty. You need to optimize for a spectrum of potential hardware rather than the particularities of the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch 2. That doesn't necessarily excuse the wide berth of problems players have encountered after buying Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam, especially given we were getting PC-specific patches right up to January of this year, but it does explain the struggle Capcom faced in getting the game right.

"It's just a matter of experience really, so I'm hoping that we can bring those lessons forward into Ascendance," he adds.

This much is correct. The team now has a lot of feedback on how to make sure Wilds runs well regardless of your setup. These days, one year and four months removed from the launch, the Steam reviews sit at Mostly Positive, suggesting the release now runs much smoother than it did back in May of last year.

That alone is a sign of good tidings for Ascendance, which is due to arrive some time next year. We don't yet know everything that'll be in this DLC, but it's expected to be a large addition to the base game. There'll be fresh parts of the map, newer creatures, and all sorts of other bits and bobs for players to enjoy. Should it run well on PC, it should give the community on that platform a second wind. And probably a third, given how many hours the average Monster Hunter fan sinks into these games.

Capcom is finally removing scummy character customization vouchers from Monster Hunter Wilds, players immediately dance on their grave.

Monster Hunter series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto says there's still an appetite at Capcom to make another live-action movie after 2020's Paul W.S. Anderson-directed box office bomb.

"Speaking as producer and also as overall series producer in the past, I'm definitely interested in the idea of revisiting a Monster Hunter movie if the stars align in future," Tsujimoto told Postmode.

But, of course, we need to talk about the Gammoth in the room: 2020's Monster Hunter, to put it mildly, was not a success.

Yes, its low box office (under $50 million) can be partly attributed to a cinematic landscape emerging from the after-effects of COVID-mandated shutdowns, but a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes and scathing reappraisals in the years since has done nothing to help Monster Hunter's cause. Hot off the heels of Zach Cregger's Resident Evil – an adaptation of another beloved Capcom property – it only holds up worse.

Still, that hasn't deterred Tsujimoto, nor the wider Capcom shot-callers.

"Capcom as a whole, not just Monster Hunter, has said publicly that it's putting real effort into film and visual media," Tsujimoto underlined. "Within that, we're of course very interested in Monster Hunter on screen and want to do it in the future. But it's not something we can do on our own."

There, then, is the rub. Much like Monster Hunter's beastie-thwacking gameplay, it requires a team effort to get the job done. To that end, Tsujimoto seemingly requires a certain set of conditions to be met before trying again.

"It depends on the companies involved, on a director, on timing," Tsujimoto said. "And we'd need to think hard about what we want to depict. The desire is there, but it happens when the timing and those things line up. We want to do it in the future."

Elsewhere, Monster Hunter Wilds is receiving a new expansion, titled Ascendance. It promises new gear, new locations and – of course – new monsters to hunt. It's set for release on PC, Xbox Series X, and PS5 next year.

For more, check out the new PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games in the works, then cast an eye towards the upcoming video game movies that are on the way soon.

The Resident Evil movie is here, and fans are sharing their thoughts on the film.

The movie, which stars Austin Abrams as medical courier Bryan, takes place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2 and doesn't include a lot of lore or any of the characters from the games.

Over on Reddit, Resident Evil fans are discussing the movie – and it's a pretty even mix of appreciation and criticism, with the ending, the comedy, and the lack of game lore particularly hot topics. The following contains spoilers for the film, so turn back now if you're not up to date!

"Feels like someone slapped a random dude in an RE game, absolutely loved it," says one fan, while another says: "I think it's perfectly good as a standalone horror movie, but it left me wanting a bit more in terms of Resident Evil stuff. Also felt that the humour was a bit excessive in a Marvel-esque way that weakens a few scenes for me but that might just be [Zach] Cregger's style"

"It was highly enjoyable with plenty of Easter eggs and references to mechanics in the game. The monster designs were both grotesque and cool. The way the movie was structured felt very faithful to the game's, it could easily be adapted into a video game with minimal changes and it would make a good side story game for RE," is this fan's thoughts. "I'm glad he stayed away from direct adaptations or shoehorning established RE characters."

"Glad they toned down the comedy, it's already a lot in the final release," says another person. "Zach Cregger's definition of less jokes is very different than mine," says someone else – director Cregger previously revealed that he cut jokes from the final movie.

"I was so bought into this movie as a 8/10 until the final 10 minutes where every scientist does the dumbest thing possible and Brian transforms into a monster and it just cuts to credits. Also, I can't get the 'VIDEO GAMES, YEAH!' line out of mind," says another person.

"The YAY VIDEOGAMES!! line made me physically cringe, but movie wasn't bad per say but way too much on the nose comedy was in the movie they could of toned it back a lot more than what they put out," thinks another fan.

"Really really not a fan of the ending, the rest of the movie is a solid 8-9 out of 10 but that ending brings it down to a 6-7/10 for me, harsh maybe but I just really don't like the ending," thinks another fan.

"Loved the movie. Hated the ending. Brought it down from a 9/10 to 6/10. Really was rooting for him to cure himself which follows all the Resident Evil games with Leon," agrees someone else.

"I'm pissed off by the ending bro it should have been him surviving," echoes another fan. "The ending sucked. I also think there should've been more creatures that were true to the games. I'm fine with the director making his own story, however don't smack the Resident Evil title on it if you're not even going to include any of the iconic creatures," says another person.

"I thought it was really great, felt bad about the ending though. I guess considering it's a horror movie.. It makes sense for it to end that way... But I guess watching the dude bumble and survive through everything, just to bite it so close to the end, felt sad," thinks someone else.

Resident Evil is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to the Resident Evil movie ending explained, or our Resident Evil movie review.

While the Resident Evil movie focuses on telling a new story set in the world of the franchise, that doesn't mean it isn't stuffed with some neat Resident Evil Easter eggs. It's been well-documented that the film has typewriters, herbs, and first aid spray cans, but there are also a few nods to one of the most well-loved Resi characters, Leon S. Kennedy.

Warning though: we'll be getting into spoilers from the Resident Evil movie below, so make sure you've seen it first.

These come later on in the movie when Bryan, our hapless medical courier, has made it to Raccoon City. Here, he faces the arduous final journey to the hospital to attempt to deliver the sample needed to make the cure.

His first hurdle comes from running down a street as zombies hurl themselves off rooftops towards him. In the background of this shot, as Bryan looks ahead to the hospital, is a shopfront reading 'Leon S. Kennedy Guns and Ammo'. Leon is a rookie cop at this point in the timeline, but he sure does know a few things about guns and ammo, so it's a fun nod from director Zach Cregger. Check out the moment below, as shared by Twitter user RENews from the trailer.

Although, apparently a Deadline journalist asked Cregger about this and he wasn't sure how it ended up in there.

That's not the only reference though, according to some eagle-eyed fans. When Bryan makes it to the hospital, he has to enter through the underground carpark as there are a fair few zombies in the main building. Now some theater-goers spotted that Leon's car is parked among those in the car park where Bryan takes a beat to work out how to complete his journey.

As one fan on Reddit wrote, "I liked that Leon's car was parked in the hospital. It was a cool Easter egg." See if you can spot it on your next rewatch.

For more on the film, check out our breakdown of the Resident Evil movie ending and a breakdown of all the Resident Evil game differences. We've also got a Resident Evil movie review as well if you need any more insight about why it's worth your time.

Ahead of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, Capcom has announced the removal of the game's widely hated character edit vouchers, which force players to spend real money in order to re-edit their character's appearance.

"With the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance in 2027, all players will be able to re-edit the appearance of their hunter and Palico as many times as they like, free of charge and without the need for a Character Edit Voucher, which will be removed from the game," a post from the official Monster Hunter account reads.

Character edit vouchers will be removed from sale on December 3. It goes without saying that, now more than ever, you should not buy them. In their place, 10 character and Palico edit vouchers will be given to players to tide them over on customization until Ascendance arrives in 2027 (probably, but speculatively, in March).

The ability to repeatedly customize your character has been a premium feature in Monster Hunter for some time. Monster Hunter Wilds, in particular, is absolutely lousy with DLC, so it's almost impressive that these vouchers stayed among the most-hated forms of microtransactions. It just plain sucks that, if you find that your character doesn't look as you'd hoped or you suddenly have an idea for a new look, you have to break out the credit card. (On PC at least, you could thankfully bypass this with mods.)

Capcom framing the option to have unmonetized fun with a core game system as some fabulous reward is a bit strange. Stranger still is the planned release of "a token of our appreciation to everyone who has previously paid for Character Edit Vouchers."

If you've purchased the three-voucher character, Palico, or combo pack, you'll receive a "Special Thank-You Pendant Set." Look, it's hard not to read this as: thanks for tolerating our invasive monetization, here is a shiny thing, and hey, if you do want the shiny thing, you've got a few more weeks to buy soon-to-be-deprecated vouchers.

But good news is good news. Character edit vouchers are dead, may they rest in pieces. Monster Hunter players, to whom Capcom's growing microtransaction library has not gone unnoticed, are practically dancing in the streets after the news.

"If a game gives you the option to change how your character looks they should not take money from you for changing it," reads the top reply to a Monster Hunter Wilds subreddit post sharing the news. "Still great to see that we do that now."

"They don't deserve a goodbye," says another user. "Into the trashcan and that's it."

"This is nice but these never should've been a thing to begin with," adds a third.

The question now is whether Capcom will stick to this approach with the release of the next Monster Hunter game. If character edit vouchers return, expect to see Monster Hunter fans put some feet to some fire.

After playing Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, this huge expansion is the second wind the game needs.

Capcom's long-running Monster Hunter series has seen many changes in recent years that have evolved the franchise in intriguing ways. While 2025's Monster Hunter Wilds was an ambitious swing, bringing a more seamless, systemic open world to explore, it also led to missteps that didn't make for a smooth launch of the franchise's next phase.

Nearly 2 years after release, developer Capcom has been steadily refining its flagship entry with new events and improvements that realign the core challenge of a Monster Hunter game. With the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance expansion on the way, the studio aims to upgrade and raise the stakes of its beast-slaying adventure even further with a new super-charged campaign and even spicier battles to dive into. I got some early hands-on time with Ascendance during the week of Tokyo Game Show 2026, exploring the new Skybound Eyrie zone and facing off against new and returning monsters that will shake up tactics and push hunters to adapt.

Back to the Hunt

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance jumps ahead several years after the defeat of elder dragon Gogmazios in Wilds' main story. The Hunter's Guild faces a new threat with the return of the elder dragon Lao-Shan Lung, who destroys the guild's stronghold. Years later, the guild is more experienced and better prepared to take down the massive monster, they venture to a new region in the forbidden lands known as the Skybound Eyrie. Faced with new monsters to slay and the return of the tar-based affliction spreading through the Windward Plains and its ecosystem, the Hunter's Guild aims to defeat Lao-Shan Lung and stop the corruption's spread.

This first major expansion for Monster Hunter Wilds is very much in the vein of other big updates from previous games – like Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – focusing on adding more locations, gear, and monsters to fight. However, Ascendance and its added scope aim to refresh Wilds by pushing a realignment toward more intense, high-stakes action. For starters, the new Skybound Eyrie location is by far the most vertical zone in the game, even by Wilds' standards. It also boasts the most visually impressive and varied level design that the series has seen yet. I'm immediately taken in by the aerial islands, which remind me of the Avatar films. It's a really exciting change of scenery from the Windward Plains.

But, Ascendance really focuses on updating the core combat. As a post-main story campaign, it's geared toward experienced players, spicing up battles and noticeably increasing battle intensity. I get to play two hunts during my hands-on, with the first focused on defeating the Alpha Araketa, which leads a smaller group of minions that it can coordinate with. This is a great sampling of the upgrades coming to Ascendance. Not only is the new location an interesting battlefield to learn, with Skybound Eyrie's more vertical locations lead to serious pitfalls during fast-paced action – I fell off the map in a couple of instances – but it also showcases how much of an upgrade monster behavior and tactics have gotten.

The Alpha Araketa hunt is incredibly dynamic, requiring a lot of coordination with my team. As both a ground and aerial monster, the Araketa and its minions can attack in unison, group-rushing hunters on the ground and launching into the air to deliver synchronized dive-bombs against the squad. It's impressive to see in action, but it's also quite intense to be on their receiving end. Like other Monster Hunter games, it's all about the chase in these battles, and navigating the dangerous terrain of the Skybound Eyrie adds so much tension. My squad takes two attempts to fell the Alpha Araketa, and during that time we learn its varied attack styles and rhythm – such as one particular combo attack that uses its wings, which have natural gases in them that can create a jet-powered-like impact. It's already one of my favorite new monsters to fight in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Fortunately, Ascendance adds a new edge for hunters to employ in a fight. One of the biggest new additions for the expansion – which will likely inspire some debate among fans – is the Boost Bracer system. Unlocked once you enter the new story, it lets you activate a powered-up state that unleashes a new super attack for each weapon and grants temporary access to powered-up combos during your boosted phase. As you attack foes, you build up a meter with three maximum charges. When you have a charge ready, you can dish out a super attack that's either a combo or a heavy one-hit strike.

I personally find the Boost Bracer to be a really fun and satisfying combat skill to unleash on enemies. My favorite moments come when my squad is unleashing anime-style super moves on a staggered foe, and seeing the chaos of the fight jump up several degrees gives us the shot in the arm we need to keep pushing forward. That said, I imagine this skill might spark debate among long-time fans of the series, especially regarding the perception that Monster Hunter Wilds was already overly generous in its balancing. However, the Boost Bracer takes time to build up, and you can easily waste it if you aren't careful. It's painful enough to miss a standard charged strike, but I actually face-palmed when I whiffed a super attack. Very much like the items in your inventory and the time you have, the Boost Bracer skills are a resource as well, and one that has to be used at the right time.

The other hunt available in my demo is against the elder dragon Teostra – a returning super boss from earlier games that's now powered up in Ascendance. Unfortunately, this hunt doesn't go well at all with my squad. Along with dealing with Teostra's powerful flame attacks and heavy strikes, the battle zone also has quicksand, which makes traversal a serious challenge. I sense a rematch in my future.

So far, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance makes a strong case for revisiting Wilds. That's not to say Wilds wasn't a worthwhile Monster Hunter game on its own, but this expansion brings a much-needed refresh with a more interesting, better-developed top-level endgame that adds a new skill ceiling for combat. It's been really exciting to get reacquainted with the game, explore its new locations, and get to grips with souped-up weapons that feel fierce and satisfying to use against some of the series' meanest beasts to date.

Hopefully, the full suite of upgrades coming in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance will make for a well-earned comeback story that can cap off the series' most ambitious entry yet.

Hunting for something else to play while you wait? Our best Monster Hunter games and best open world games rankings have more for you to enjoy!

Fans might have been vocal about franchise characters not making an appearance in Zach Cregger's new film, but the Rotten Tomatoes score for his new Resident Evil movie proves he really didn’t need them. Not only is his new horror film based on the video game franchise taking the top spot above all the Resident Evil films that have come before it, but it's also now the highest-rated live-action video game adaptation ever on the site.

At 97%, it just beats The Last of Us season 1 and Fallout season 2, which are both ranked at 96%. On the movie side, it's miles ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at 86%. Arcane season 2 is still on top though with a perfect score on the movie aggregation site.

The praise has come pouring in for Cregger's movie, with GamesRadar+'s own Jordan Farley giving it four stars. Our Resident Evil movie review calls it: "The best Resi movie by a distance, and the best video game movie full stop."

Meanwhile, IndieWire called it "a massive and rapidly mutating middle finger to the Comic-Con-brained idea that video game adaptations should just give 'the fans' what they think they want." The Hollywood Reporter gave Cregger some well-deserved props, saying, "The talented filmmaker has completely rejuvenated the series, leaving the six original films and the misbegotten reboot attempt Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in the dust."

There's no doubt that some might take issue with the direction that Cregger takes, with Austin Abrams' worn-down organ delivery guy having the night from hell, and never once running into Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, or any of your franchise horror favorites. Nevertheless, that is the movie's cheat code. Daily Dead wrote, "The essence of Capcom’s survival horror franchise is alive, yet Cregger’s horror-comedy snapshot centered around the Raccoon City outbreak creates its own glorious nightmares."

Of course, as with any time spent in Resident Evil, some shots miss their mark in the frantic horror, and critics' common complaint is that Cregger's time with the franchise suffers in its final act. The Guardian highlighted that "After doing a great job making us care about [Bryan] for more than 90 minutes, Cregger seems to abandon him a few steps shy of completing any real journey."

Resident Evil arrives in theaters on September 18. Check out all the other upcoming horror movies coming in 2026 and beyond.

The first reactions to Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie are in, and they're pretty glowing.

The new take on the iconic game franchise tells the story of Bryan (Austin Abrams), a hospital courier charged with making a delivery to Racoon City General Hospital. However, on his way he gets caught up in a horrifying outbreak, leaving him fighting for his life.

Rather than focussing on game characters, the new take on the IP is set instead on the periphery of Resident Evil 2. According to Cregger, it's more focused on translating the feeling of playing video games than being a direct adaptation. It seems like the risk has paid off based on the movie's first reactions.

Collider's Perri Nemiroff calls it "one of the best video game adaptations I’ve ever seen" She adds that it's "also one of the best horror comedies I've ever seen. Cannot believe how many hilarious beats this movie has without ever diminishing the stakes or sheer terror of the situation."

According to Fandango's Erik Davis, the movie is "less an adaptation of a game and more a movie that makes you feel like you're playing one." He adds: "Don’t get stuck on what is or isn’t in the Resident Evil games. This is a film that takes the spirit of playing those games and runs wild with it."

"Zach Cregger is cookin' with napalm," writes Variety's Courtney Howard. "It's a wild, hilarious, unpredictably bonkers thrill ride from start to finish. Kinetic action leans heavily on demented body horror. Mutant mayhem galore! Austin Abrams is perfect as our doofy, hapless hero."

Film critic Mark Cassidy wrote on Twitter: "#ResidentEvil may not feature recognizable characters/storylines, but by tapping into the relentless tension of the games, Zach Cregger has actually delivered the most faithful take yet."

Check out some more below.

Resident Evil arrives in theaters on September 18. For more, check out our guides to upcoming horror movies and all the upcoming video game adaptations you need to know about.

Just when Zach Cregger couldn’t stir the pot any more before the release of his new film, Resident Evil, he chimed in on the long-standing debate over diverting to digital or sticking to physical media since PlayStation's big announcement that sent the gaming industry into an uproar. Surprisingly, the director of Weapons and the upcoming video game adaptation isn’t too fussed about keeping hold of discs in all their various forms, and it isn’t down to a matter of ease, but more so not trusting himself to keep track of them all.

"I'm not a physical media guy," Cregger told IndieWire. "I mean, I have been in my life, but I tend to lose and damage things very easily. So, I am not bent out of shape if I'm downloading a game, because at least it means it's always going to be there when I need it."

Although, Cregger predicted that might not be the answer some would like to hear. "Now, I know there’s a lot of people saying, 'Not always, dude, because they can just delete it and then you've paid for it,'" Cregger continued. "And, yeah, that's too bad. I don't like that."

Ultimately, though, keeping a bajillion movies in his home just isn't on Cregger's agenda, and he’s come to terms with that. “I just don’t have room in my physical space for all of the games that I want to own," he explained. "And I lose them. I always do. I always lose and break stuff. So no, I"m fine with downloading."

It’s, of course, an answer that many would be against, but honestly, at this point, each to their own. Anyway, our biggest concern isn’t whether he's physical or not, but how well he's handled his version of Resident Evil, which hits theaters this week on September 18, 2026.

You can also check out our guides to upcoming horror movies and upcoming video game adaptations.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword's director has explained some of the major inspirations behind the samurai action game, and let's just say, peak respects peak.

Speaking to FZ (via machine translation), Capcom's Satoru Nihei, director of Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Onimusha series producer Akihito Kadowaki were asked to choose one game which inspired their work on the game, and while I'm sure most would expect the director to say something like Sekiro or Ghost of Tsushima, Nihei explained that it was actually Super Mario Odyssey.

He explains that Mario is an action game that is very easy on the surface, but once you go deeper, it becomes more dynamic and challenging, which Nihei praises as something Nintendo, as a developer, excels at. He notes that every action in Mario Odyssey corresponds to a reaction to counter it, and that the way this affects Mario's controls was something Nihei focused on bringing to Onimusha's control scheme to enhance its tactical feel.

Kadowaki, on the other hand, after mentioning Silent Hill f – which you can somewhat feel in the world design – cites the Gundam series. He explains that, with the universe packed to the gills with charismatic characters, this is something Kadowaki aimed to bring to his work with Onimusha. And given how memorable and diverse the personalities of Musashi, Okuni, and Takamura are, I'd say you can definitely feel that shine through.

From a non-game-development perspective, I believe every game should look to something like Super Mario Odyssey for inspiration. Yes, the central game, challenges, and adventure are all brilliant, but Mario himself is what I actually mean. No game has aced how good it feels to have a character and simply move around in the world quite like it; the only exception is Donkey Kong Bananza, from the same development team.

Capcom left a surprise in new Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance footage: fans spot the return of the series' most cursed creature.

Capcom has announced that Onimusha: Way of the Sword has sold one million copies in its first day, continuing the publisher's 2026 hot streak.

Even with the sheer amount of major games that have been released this year, and even with the monolith that is GTA 6 standing over every release as it will inevitably be the best-selling and likely most-awarded game of the year, it's hard to argue that anyone has had a better 2026 than Capcom. Obviously, Resident Evil Requiem is the publisher's marquee title this year, but new IP Pragmata proved to be a huge success, with Capcom poised to turn it into a franchise following 2.5 million copies sold, and the more niche Monster Hunter Stories 3 landed well with players and critics, too.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword landed positively as far as critic reviews went, while its Steam concurrent player count peaked at 85,081 over the weekend to go along with its "very positive" rating (thanks, SteamDB), but the real test was whether the long-dormant Capcom franchise would sell as well in 2026. Thankfully, Capcom seems happy, as the publisher has announced that Way of the Sword surpassed one million units on the first day of its release, which in turn has pushed the Onimusha series overall to 10 million copies sold.

On top of the success of Onimusha, Capcom includes an interesting note at the bottom of its press release: "In addition to regularly releasing major new titles each year, Capcom is focusing on re-activating IPs that haven’t had a new title launch recently."

Capcom considers Monster Hunter, Resident Evil and Street Fighter to be its major titles, with the likes of Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Onimusha, Okami, and Ace Attorney singled out as series the company wants to be on the level of the big three.

However, following Onimusha's success, we could perhaps be seeing some more Capcom deep cuts like Dino Crisis, Breath of Fire, Darkstalkers, or Viewtiful Joe get another chance at life. I'm holding out hope we'll see a new God Hand, Bionic Commando, Rival Schools, or Final Fight revival, personally.

Capcom left a surprise in new Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance footage: fans spot the return of the series' most cursed creature.

While Capcom didn't see fit to announce the returning monster, eagle-eyed fans have spotted Monster Hunter's most cursed creature in footage for the upcoming DLC expansion Ascendance.

Capcom has been releasing new Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance footage on Twitter showing off the expansion's new Boost mechanic, with weapon-specific boosts being shown off in separate clips. And ahead of today's PlayStation State of Play, Capcom released the Bow's Boosted action breakdown, which includes a look at the new mechanics coming to a weapon, including the introduction of an offset attack. However, the most eagle-eyed fans caught a glimpse of a specific monster in the background of its final moments.

The monster in question? Khezu, which made its debut in the OG Monster Hunter, is most famous for its appearance: a pale, rubbery-looking dragon with a somewhat phallic-looking head. It's definitely one of the most cursed designs in the series, and add that with the fact they have a tail that allows them to cling to the ceiling and get the drop on you, it's even more freaky.

The electric penis monster wasn't confirmed for the Monster Hunter Wilds expansion before now, but even more strange is the fact that it never showed up in the new Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance trailer. We got a look at some returning monsters like Kushala Doara, as well as the reveal of three new monsters: the rocket-powered wyvern Araketa, and a new lightning-based Elder Dragon known as Gundoraja. Finally, there was a black goop monster that looked almost like Spider-Man's symbiote, which emerged from the body of a dead Doshaguma.

The lack of Khezu in the main trailer leads me to believe this was completely accidental on Capcom's part; or that they're going to tease the creepy monster in the background until launch.

Capcom is selling Monster Hunter Wilds with the energy of a man paddling up a waterfall: new 26GB demo lets you play the prologue for free after price drop to $40.

Hideki Kamiya, legendary Capcom veteran behind gems including Resident Evil 2, thinks newer games from the studio like Resident Evil Requiem are… too scary?

Yes, indeed, Kamiya finds games like Capcom's more recent Resident Evil entries a tad too spooky for his tastes, as per a recent interview with VGC.

First declaring that "this is not a joke," the Devil May Cry mastermind says he's "being one hundred percent serious when I say that I wish they would make it so that their games can also be enjoyed by people like me, who can't handle scary games at all." And… honestly, I get it.

Look, even Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi admitted his game was "possibly too scary" and "some people couldn't handle it" last year (and as somebody who loves the seventh entry, I'd most certainly agree).

Requiem, according to Kamiya, isn't any better. "Just recently this year we had Resident Evil Requiem and the big return of Leon Kennedy, and he went back to Raccoon City… reliving all of those memories and all of those experiences."

He then states that, "As somebody who directed that original game, Resident Evil 2, I was curious to know how that panned out for him." Unfortunately though, the horror-adjacent side of Requiem made that impossible for Kamiya.

"I wanted to experience that myself as a player," as he says, "but the game was way too scary, and I couldn't." So, what's the solution, then, so that all flavors of player can enjoy Capcom's stories? Apparently, a less scary game mode.

"It's not a joke," Kamiya explains. "I legitimately wished it would include some kind of non-horror mode for people like me." He outlines how he's spoken to "folks who are on the Resident Evil teams at Capcom" and admitted as much to the devs.

"I tell them that their games are way too scary, and they're like, 'What, come on, they're not that scary,'" the Resident Evil 2 legend recalls.

Kamiya concludes that the devs "seriously seem to have no awareness of how scary the things they make actually are, so I really hope they address that at some point" – even if that means just making it "so that the zombies' faces aren't so scary."

You know, "Why not have a mode that just puts, like, brown paper bags on all of their heads, or instead of having these dark, dingy rooms everywhere, they could have really pleasant mood lighting" – which I'm not too sure I agree with...

These are horror games, after all, and this isn't the first time he's brought the topic up. Earlier this year, Kamiya said Capcom "should make a 'non-scary' mode" because "look, I just want to enjoy the puzzles."

So, there you have it – Resident Evil has become too frightening for the very folks who helped mark its name amid other survival horror giants.

If you're yet to play it, be sure to check out our Resident Evil Requiem review to find out if it's worth your time, or our Resident Evil Requiem safe codes guide to help you through it.

Capcom has released some more footage of Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance's new Boost Bracer mechanic, and Devil May Cry fans are all thinking the same thing.

The Capcom Showcase later this month surely has to show more of Monster Hunter Wilds Ascendance, given that – outside of Mega Man: Dual Override and the Dragon's Dogma 2 DLC – Capcom's major releases for this year are all out. Ahead of it (and Tokyo Game Show) the devs are releasing some short videos showcasing the new mechanics featured in the upcoming expansion, notably the Boost Bracer, which will add new moves and skills to each of the game's 14 weapons.

The Boost Bracer gives you access to Boost Drivers, new attacks which in turn build up a meter which activates a Boosted mode. This mode gives you enhanced attacks, defense, and access to new combos to beat up monsters. This shows itself with an explosive flame effect on your weapon, which makes it look like a jet-propelled item of destruction, but this effect is also reminiscent of a specific weapon in another Capcom franchise.

Devil May Cry's Nero uses a sword known as Red Queen, which has the Exceed system, which allows Nero to rev his sword up like a motorcycle because the Devil May Cry games are the sickest thing on the planet.

Naturally, fans made this connection right away, with one user saying, "Close enough, welcome back Nero!" Another notes that Capcom "literally just put Nero's Exceed in Monster Hunter. The mad lads." Meanwhile, others have seen the crossover potential right away, saying, "If you dont but[sic] a Red Queen weapon in the game as a collab quest you fallen, Capcom."

From the looks of things, Capcom will be releasing videos based on each weapon, with a Great Sword edition releasing today showing some ways the series' most iconic weapon will be boosted, and safe to say, some fans are excited by some of the new moves. One Monster Hunter content creator, Maple Syrup, shouts out the ability to use its offset slash twice in a row, saying, "THAT DOUBLE OFFSET OH MY GODDDD CAPCOM I’M PREGNANT."

Capcom is selling Monster Hunter Wilds with the energy of a man paddling up a waterfall: new 26GB demo lets you play the prologue for free after price drop to $40.

Dragon's Dogma 2 has finally got its long-awaited performance patch, and players are over the moon about how the game runs.

Dragon's Dogma 2 is a great game, one of the best open-world games in my eyes, and was my game of the year back in 2024. Despite that, it garnered a lot of criticism over many of its aspects, namely some of the punishing mechanics and friction it imposed on the player with the limited fast travel and Dragonsplague – a disease that could wipe out an entire village of NPCs, locking you out of quests in the process. I loved a lot of its esoteric features (Dragonsplague is so cool) but one thing we could all agree on was the performance was not it. As the RE Engine's first open-world game, the engine struggled to keep up, which we later saw with Monster Hunter Wilds' woes.

However, with the announcement of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Capcom decided it was going to tackle the game's biggest issues. This began with an update earlier this summer which added unlimited fast travel and some quality of life adjustments, and another update launching today which added new save slots, adjustments to Dragonsplague, and crucially, performance improvements.

With the release of the update today, fans flooded the Dragon's Dogma subreddit to talk about the improvements, with performance being a big talking point. One user says, "The performance boost is insane," with another noting, "I went from 30 ON LOW to 60 on high, Capcom im sorry I doubted you."

And, as another post points out, this update actually lowered the system requirements on the game's Steam page, too.

Of course, Capcom needed to improve the performance either way, but I think the Nintendo Switch 2 is partly to thank too. Given the developers would need to get it running on the handheld, it likely played a big role in this update, too.

Capcom returns to its divisive RPG with Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, and the dev leading the expansion says its friction will be preserved – "That is something that we offer so that players can make a decision on how to play."

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie has been (unfairly) divisive for its creative deviations from Resident Evil canon, and for telling a Resident Evil story without fan-favorite characters like Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Nevertheless, it's set to open huge later this month, and could potentially double the opening weekend box office takings of the biggest Resident Evil movie to date.

Early tracking (h/t IGN) has put Resident Evil's opening weekend figure at some $40-50 million in the US. Even at the lower end of predictions, that's far higher than any movie in the Milla Jovovich-starring series, the biggest of which, Resident Evil: Afterlife, opened to $26.6 million in 2010. The most recent Resident Evil movie, Welcome to Raccoon City, opened to just over $5 million in November 2021. Even factoring in that more faithful adaptation's pandemic-era handicap, this is a big improvement.

Cregger's Resident Evil movie seems to be resonating for a few reasons. The fact that it's telling an original story that anyone can jump into is certainly one. Cregger himself is becoming something of an event filmmaker after his original horror-thriller Weapons opened to a massive $43 million last summer. And the self-proclaimed Resident Evil superfan seems to have learnt all the right lessons about video game adaptations, in that he's staying true to the "spirit and tone" of the games (and even the power progression) rather than simply re-telling one of the games' stories on screen.

Even a bumper box office is unlikely to result in more Resident Evil movies from Cregger, however, as the writer-director is set to helm original sci-fi The Flood next. He's also penning Weapons prequel, Gladys, centred on that movie's twiggy witch, and he's reportedly scripting a Siren Head movie for director Brian Duffield. So Cregger is booked for years to come. But given how lucrative adaptations of the Resident Evil series have proven to be over the years (some seven live-action movies and an ill-fated Netflix TV show have been made to date), it's unlikely to be the last.

Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams as a medical courier tasked with transporting biological materials across a zombie-infected Raccoon City. Late last year, we visited the Resident Evil set in Prague, where Cregger, Abrams and the team took us through their full-throttle vision for the movie.

Resident Evil opens on September 18. For more scares, check out our guide to upcoming horror movies and our list of all the new video game adaptations on the way in 2026 and beyond.

Our Onimusha: Way of the Sword review is here, and so is everyone else's. So far, Onimusha's revival is on track to beat Pragmata, match Monster Hunter Stories 3, and barely trail Resident Evil Requiem in a particularly strong year for Capcom.

PS5 reviews frequently provide the biggest critical base on Metacritic, and that's true across Capcom's latest games.

Shortly after the review embargo, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is sitting at a score of 86 on Metacritic for PS5 with 66 reviews. (This is up from 59 reviews earlier this morning, and the game's critical score has not changed.)

PC is slightly lower at 82 (with 16 reviews), and Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2 currently have too few reviews to meaningfully measure. PC feedback feels particularly important, as Capcom's PC ports are hit-and-miss.

This puts Onimusha near the front of the pack of Capcom's 2026 lineup. The publisher said earlier this year that it's "not done with 2026 yet" after Resident Evil Requiem landed at 89 on Metacritic, Monster Hunter Stories 3 at 86, and new IP Pragmata at 85.

Pragmata feels especially relevant. New Monster Hunter and Resident Evil entries are reliable, and Onimusha is technically just the latest entry in a long-running, long-dormant series. Heading up Capcom's first new IP in some time, Pragmata director Yonghee Cho told GamesRadar+ that he was extraordinarily anxious about being the first one to fumble it this year. He compared Capcom's lineup to a relay race, and he didn't want Pragmata to hurt the team.

"Because those were all positively received as well," Oyama said of Capcom's 2026 hits, "[it's] not necessarily higher expectations, but we feel like we can add to that success when there's this instance where these games came out in a relatively short timeframe."

Our Onimusha: Way of the Sword review praises the game's combat and humor, but, like many other reviews I've read, is more critical of its pacing and tone. The game's out on all platforms September 4.

Capcom still has more in store for 2026, with Dragon's Dogma 2's big Dark Arisen expansion out October 8. Going into 2027, the company has already revealed Resident Evil Veronica, the series' latest remake, and Mega Man: Dual Override, the first mainline Mega Man in seven years.

Capcom made twice as much money on Steam compared to PlayStation in the last year, boosted by Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Devil May Cry as PC gaming continues to grow.

Despite the fact that you collect souls from fallen enemies, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not a Soulslike. In fact, if you've ever dabbled in the genre but found yourself thinking "I'd probably be enjoying this if I felt that I was making any progress", this may be the game for you. The only punishment for death is being sent back to the last autosave, difficulty increases over time rather than the game resenting your very existence from the first moments, and – oh my goodness – you can pause. There are even accessibility options!

In fact, the game asks you to go through a selection of these options before starting to play (larger subtitles are always great to see). This is great, but it did result in me accidentally selecting English audio rather than Japanese – something that can only be changed via the main menu for some reason. I ended up keeping the English audio though, as it soon became apparent that this is a game that's not afraid to be goofy in any language. Some of the line deliveries in English wouldn't sound out of place in a corporate training video, which fits in nicely.

Hell to pay

Miyamoto Musashi (sporting the likeness of Toshiro Mifune, as seen in the likes of Seven Samurai and Shogun) is a samurai aiming to prove his might in Kyoto. Ambushed by Genma – creatures escaped from the depths of Hell – he is killed, and sent on his way to the hottest joint in the afterlife himself. However, he is resurrected (against his will) by having the Oni Gauntlet thrust upon him, which gives him the power to fight the Genma and absorb their souls.

I enjoyed playing through Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but one word that kept popping into my head as I played was "inconsistent". This certainly applies to the storytelling. Appropriately enough for a game including Mifune's likeness, it feels somewhat like a movie, but very much a wonky B-movie rather than a samurai classic.

One moment, the goofiness shines through with athleticism in a cutscene, or one of Musashi's dismissive comments at the end of a fight ("They were shit," the mighty samurai declared of a band of unearthly horrors after one encounter, to my great amusement and delight). The next moment though, it might be aiming for an entirely unearned moment of intense emotion, or lean on unremarkable melodrama. In a few rare moments, there is a surprisingly effective horror angle, and I do wonder what the game might have looked like if this had been the direction throughout.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword does have a difficulty curve, but this is where inconsistency comes in again, as that curve wobbles about quite a bit. Things start off a little too easy, then the challenge jumps up in some areas while remaining trivial in others. By the halfway mark, it more or less hits its stride, although some bosses prove more of a hurdle than others with no clear rhyme or reason.

Nonetheless, credit must be given for allowing the player good time to get to grips with the intricacies of combat before mastering all corners of it is necessary. Generally speaking, you know the drill; dodges, parries, counters, enemies become vulnerable to a pre-rendered attack when you knock their stamina bar to zero. What's particularly interesting, though, is that there are two countering moves that are more demanding than the others, not essential to use but highly rewarding.

The parry window is marginally more generous than it tends to be in similar games. Opt for a deflection instead, and your timing must be more precise, but the enemy's stamina loss will be greater (this is worth learning, and it's not too hard to do so). The real challenge is Issen attacks. By hitting an attack button just before an enemy attack connects, you'll leap forward and counter with a mighty blow of your own. The timing on this is incredibly demanding, and messing it up will see you punished in no uncertain terms. You can get through the game using them little or not at all, but it's a great layer to explore for those who like to challenge themselves.

As the game becomes more challenging, combat becomes more satisfying. Weapon attacks are best parried or deflected, while unarmed attacks are most effectively dodged and then countered. Working out which is which (not always immediately clear with demonic enemies) and reacting accordingly in a split-second, again and again until you emerge victorious, is a thrill. There's nothing like successfully deflecting a series of boss attacks, getting some hits in, then dodging or parrying everything again until they lie vulnerable for a big ol' chop with your sword.

As you land hits, different souls will emerge (red for upgrade currency, yellow for health, blue to charge the Oni armament gauge for a brief use of a special Oni weapon). There's an upgrade you can unlock to absorb souls while attacking, but still, choosing your moment for absorption so you don't leave yourself vulnerable remains important. Leaving them floating around is always a risk, though. If an enemy lands a particularly heavy hit on you, you'll be knocked to the floor, and they'll absorb souls from you (as well as any unclaimed in the arena) in order to power up. This can turn the tide against you fairly quickly in a boss fight, and you'll need to be vigilant until they power down again. Think of it like killstreaks in Call of Duty; if a boss is doing particularly well against you, they'll be handed extra abilities for even more of an advantage.

Fireman samurai

This isn't an open-world game. There are missions, fast travel, plenty of cutscenes, and quest areas that exist in isolation from the Kyoto map where the shrine you base yourself at is. Unfortunately, Capcom didn't have the confidence to stick with the linear approach. There are activities and side missions in the area around the temple, primarily to help bolster your collection of upgrade materials. OK, fine; but Onimusha commits the cardinal sin of introducing such activities by forcing you to complete one more than once. This shatters the flow of the game up until these points, and crucially, running around town really isn't as fun as following the carefully curated path of one of the main story missions.

While I can't give any detail regarding the game's final area, I should tell you that it really feels as though the developer had run out of ideas (and/or time and money) by the time they got to the end. It's not bad, just distinctly unimaginative. Also, a warning: the final boss is, in my most humble of opinions at least, significantly overtuned. Considering the fact that this area is a point of no return (which you are explicitly warned about) that cuts you off from almost all opportunities to gather upgrade materials, I strongly recommend that you ensure you buff yourself up as much as possible beforehand.

Still, I applaud Capcom's approach to accessibility here. In addition to options that allow for color blindness and various UI tweaks, you can adjust the difficulty whenever you like (although there are only two options), and both allow you to enable on-screen button prompts if you wish. I played around with this for a little while, and I was surprised at how effective it is. I'm not a huge fan of enemies wearing button prompts like brooches, but boy oh boy does it work well. Maybe it was because I'd already played through the game, but I found that these prompts enabled me to react to attacks correctly instantly every time. They enhanced my reactions without feeling intrusive; it was like I'd developed my own spidey-sense.

I've not held back in shining a light on what doesn't work here, but that's because so much of it does work well. A lot of the success comes from what isn't here. Not every action game needs an open world, a hundred weapons to collect, item crafting, and running through empty fields. Onimusha: Way of the Sword may not have Nioh 3's mastery of risk and reward, or Beast of Reincarnation's intelligence and rich atmosphere; but it has heart, and it has respect for you and your time.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is fun, not afraid to be goofy (including with a few post-credit unlocks that encouraged me to keep playing), and the flow of combat feels great. It's certainly not perfect, but whenever you hit a point of frustration, you can be sure that there's another moment of greatness close by.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword was reviewed on PS5, with a code provided by the publisher.

Our best action RPGs has more recommendations if your own way of the sword directs you on even more adventures.

Ashley Graham is unfairly seen as one of the more controversial characters in Resident Evil lore due to some clumsily tuned AI during her escort missions in the original Resident Evil 4. That was all fixed in Resident Evil 4 Remake when she became a much more fleshed out, supportive character.

Admittedly, the 2023 remake also makes Ashley a lot less prone to being captured and restarting your mission, which is nice, but stronger writing and a convincing performance from voice actor Genevieve Buechner help endear her even further. Point is, Ashley Graham doesn't deserve the hate, and she definitely didn't deserve to have her prologue scene from Resident Evil 4 Remake cut during development, but that's reportedly what happened. And now, you can play that prologue mission thanks to a newly released mod.

As spotted by RENews on Twitter, the Chapter 0 Restoration mod (via NexusMods) does precisely what it says on the box: "Restores the cut Chapter 0, a playable prologue as Ashley, seamlessly integrated into the New Game flow as a real chapter that runs before Chapter 1."

According to modder Keff0, Ashley was originally going to be the first playable character in Resident Evil 4 Remake before transitioning to Leon in the infamous village scene, which as an aside is also a lot less punishing than it was in the original game.

"A Chapter 0 existed at some point during development, but it was cut before the game's release: a short prologue played as Ashley, at night, ending in her capture," reads the mod's description.

The modder says the scene takes place on a path that's not in the final release but was dug out of the game files with "most of its details and collision removed." In it, Ashley stumbles upon some murderous cultists whose victim is the woman from the very first cutscene in the official game. Apparently, that cutscene goes back even further, showing a shocked Ashley turning and running, leading into the playable chapter, which ends with her capture.

Going full circle, the only downside to more Resident Evil 4 Remake is having to see Ashley tortured even more than what she's already endured both in the game and in Resident Evil communities everywhere. I'm not even an Ashley stan and never thought I'd say this, but at this point I think we need an Ashley Graham spinoff, or at least her own DLC at some point in the future, but I think it's safe to say that's unlikely to happen in the current timeline. Justice for Ashley.

The 1998 horror game that haunted my dreams even more than Resident Evil 2 is back, "modernized," and available on consoles for the first time.

Zach Cregger has opened up about his approach to adapting Resident Evil in his new movie. Instead of a direct adaptation, the Weapons director is telling a new story set in the world of the franchise.

"I happen to worship these Resident Evil games and pull a lot of inspiration from the experience of playing them," he said in a new featurette, before listing some of the references he included. "I tried to keep the environment changing every seven or eight minutes, like the games. You're always moving into another level as it were."

Cregger went on to explain that he includes weapon progression in the movie, from pistol to machine gun, as well as including healing spray cans, typewriters, and herbs. He's even included a particularly niche frustration, which fans of the franchise will know all too well. "There's a lot of items from the games, he's constantly coming up against these padlocks that are stopping him from progressing," he added.

As Cregger puts it, while the new movie won't include Leon or adapt any particular story, "This is an opportunity for me to be loyal to the games in spirit and in tone and build a story that puts you in that scenario again and again, with increasing stakes."

Resident Evil stars Austin Abrams as a hospital delivery driver tasked with taking an important package to Raccoon City hospital. However, what follows is no ordinary night as a viral outbreak of infected monsters swarm him as he makes the perilous journey.

The horror movie opens on September 18, 2026. For more scares, check out our guide to upcoming horror movies as well as a breakdown of all the new video game adaptations on the way in 2026 and beyond.

Now that Resident Evil Requiem has been out in the wild for nearly half a year, we can look at how Capcom's latest survival horror has performed in the market – and whether folks have opted to go physical or digital with it.

The topic of physical game copies and companies' choice to lean more into digital versions has been in the limelight recently following Sony's decision to end disc production for new titles on PlayStation consoles in 2028.

It's safe to say it's quite the hot topic, with game preservation experts predicting it'll just lead to more piracy and folks in the industry speaking out against the move toward digital-only gaming.

How are physical copies performing in the market, though? Well, when it comes to new games like Resident Evil Requiem, it seems they're doing good enough… except for in the United States, apparently.

According to The Game Business co-founder Christopher Dring (as per statistics from Ampere Analysis), the split between physical and digital copies is far more significant in the US than it is elsewhere – and, I mean by a lot.

As per Dring's roundup post on the stats, the US market saw 22% of Resident Evil Requiem sales being physical, while a whopping 78% have been digital.

Overseas, it's quite a bit more even. In the United Kingdom, 60% of sales were digital and 40% physical. Over in Australia, 43% of copies sold have been physical, whereas 57% were digital. It's certainly balanced when compared to the US, anyway – but there's more.

France's Resident Evil Requiem sales have been 55% physical and 45% digital. The most balanced figures, however, come from Japan, where 51% were physical and 49% digital – that's nearly even, almost a 50/50 split.

It's an intriguing set of stats for sure, especially as it comes amid the huge physical versus digital debate. Will numbers like this affect companies' decisions moving forward? Maybe not, but it's all still informative.

I'm personally choosing to remain hopeful that we'll still see discs and other physical media prevail – even if it's on the way out. All we need to do is convince American consumers to opt for more physical copies, right? Right…?

Capcom hopes Resident Evil Veronica follows Requiem's lead in sparking interest in the wider horror series

It's been seven years since the last Devil May Cry game was released, and 25 years since legendary developer Hideki Kamiya was at the helm of the series. Kamiya moved onto other projects after directing the original DMC, but he's now teasing fans on social media with the possibility of a return to the series – an idea that's all the more tantalizing given his recent reunion with Capcom.

Over the weekend, a fan asked Kamiya on social media about some deep cut lore in the original Devil May Cry. What's up with the dragon Dante transforms into during the game's final boss fight? "Is it the same as Vergil creating swords with his aura or is it a familiar?" YokkelTV asks. "Something else? Can you elaborate on this, please?"

"That will become clear when I make another game in the DMC series," Kamiya responds (translated via DeepL).

So is that a Kamiya-led Devil May Cry 6 confirmed? Well, not quite. Kamiya is infamous among fans for being a bit of a troll on social media, acting as the game industry's most lovable asshole on Twitter. Maybe he does have some desire to return to the Devil May Cry series and answer these kinds of questions, but it's equally possible that this is just an obtuse way of saying "the question will never be answered."

But it's impossible to ignore the fact that, suddenly, Kamiya's return to the Devil May Cry series actually feels like a possibility. He departed the company after the launch of Okami in 2006 and soon co-founded PlatinumGames, where he led titles like Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101. And, in turn, he left PlatinumGames in 2023 to found a studio called Clovers, which would soon partner with Capcom on an as-yet-untitled Okami sequel.

It's worth noting that Kamiya previously joined forces with Ikumi Nakamura in 2019 to tease a possible Okami sequel on social media, years before Clovers and the Capcom collaboration became real. Maybe he's once again testing the waters for an actual new game by getting fans fired up on Twitter. And hey, Capcom's gotta follow up on the recent hype around Devil May Cry somehow, right?

Devil May Cry still ranks high among the best action games you can play today.

Capcom credits the release of Resident Evil Requiem for a surge in sales of previous games in the series.

In its latest financial results, Capcom confirms that Resident Evil Requiem has now sold 8.06 million copies since it was released back in February. However, the top 10 has revealed that the entire series has had a great year so far, with Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes coming out ahead of Requiem in sales over the last quarter, while Biohazard and Village also make an appearance in the top 10. Resident Evil is now the best-selling Japanese game series not published by Nintendo, and Resident Evil 2 remake is the best-selling game in the series.

In an investor Q&A alongside the results, Capcom is asked what the reason was behind the strong Resident Evil series sales, and whether it believes the next game will replicate this. Capcom responds, "sales of Resident Evil series titles grew amid rising interest in Resident Evil Requiem."

It explains, "We have also seen new users who encountered the series by purchasing past titles, creating a virtuous cycle in which sales of both new and past titles grow together." Capcom adds, "With Resident Evil Veronica, we will likewise work to further expand sales of the series."

Notably, Capcom has had major sales on the series' titles this year, with the biggest being a $3 sale of Resident Evil 3 remake back in April. So that undoubtedly helped the series sales along. And, given that people are clearly very excited for Resident Evil Veronica as it hits two million Steam wishlists, it could definitely inspire a similar sales boost for the series at large.

Yet to play it? You can check out our Resident Evil Requiem review to see if it's worth your time, and our guide to Resident Evil Requiem's safe codes to help you through it.

Monster Hunter Wilds has a new and sizable free demo out to help onboard players ahead of the release of the game's Ascendance DLC.

The roughly 26GB Monster Hunter Wilds prologue demo, which includes the character creator and single-player content up to chapter 1-3 according to a Steam notice from Capcom, comes on the heels of a permanent price drop. Monster Hunter Wilds is now $40 at base, and Capcom's also cobbled together some cheaper ways to buy the mountain of DLC released for the game.

Progress in the demo will carry over to the full version if you do choose to buy it. The only catch is that online play and photo mode aren't available in the demo, though you likely won't be needing help from friends for early-game monsters – and if you do want some assistance, you can presumably rely on NPC hunters to fill out your squad.

Between the price drop, discounted DLC, and now this demo, Capcom is working overtime to paper over Monster Hunter Wilds' rough launch year and bolster the player base ahead of the release of Ascendance, an expansion comparable to Monster Hunter World's Iceborne or Monster Hunter Rise's Sunbreak.

With Ascendance, Capcom is basically releasing the second half of the game, with new monsters, story quests, and, most importantly, Master Rank gear to grind. Its release will, Capcom surely hopes, get Wilds out of the sales slump where it's spent much of the past year, losing to many other games in the company's catalog despite being the latest installment in a marquee series, to say nothing of its record-setting but short-lived debut. (Hundreds of pieces of minor DLC were also aggressively cranked out to help pad declining sales.)

Wilds is in a much better place today than it was at launch, and as I said in our Monster Hunter Wilds review (of the PS5 version), the base game is and was good – but in the updates that followed, Capcom failed to address critical issues on PC for far too long, and disappointed many longtime fans with mishandled features and some strange balance decisions.

The hope, which I share, is that Ascendance will deliver what Monster Hunter Wilds could've been had it not been evidently crushed by design missteps and the demands made of a publicly traded company. In the meantime, you can't beat a free sample.

Final Fantasy 14, Monster Hunter, and Animal Crossing top new survey of games Japanese players have spent the most time on and I can't say I'm surprised.

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil Veronica has hit 2 million wishlists on Steam, less than two months after its reveal at Summer Game Fest.

The news was announced on Twitter on the official Resident Evil account, with a post reading "2 million biscuits for the 2 million of you who've wishlisted Resident Evil Veronica. Thank you!" This was accompanied by the elderly French lady with a very young-sounding voice featured in the debut trailer for the horror remake looking very happy. I sure hope following her doesn't lead to anything terrible happening.

While wishlist numbers aren't publicly available, SteamDB does keep track of the most wishlisted games on the platform. At the moment, Resident Evil Veronica sits in eighth place on the board behind the likes of Deadlock, Light No Fire, Fable, and Total War: Warhammer 40,000. However, Resident Evil Veronica is releasing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2 as well, so those numbers will likely have added a fair amount to the total.

Granted, it's no wonder Resident Evil Veronica is as anticipated as it is. The original game is the second-highest-rated game in the series on Metacritic (behind the original Resident Evil 4), and even if its stock has fallen somewhat within the fanbase since then, it's still a pretty beloved entry. More crucially, the new game is reportedly being worked on by the team behind the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, which – alongside their original incarnations – are the most beloved games in the series.

Resident Evil remakes allow Capcom to release yearly games in the series and invest money back into new games like Pragmata, producer says

While Link's Awakening is the Game Boy title most fans would rank highest among the best Zelda games ever made, the Oracle games aren't far behind. Made by Capcom's Flagship team under Nintendo's supervision, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages had a famously troubled development, but it's a wonder it got made at all given the contentious way the project had begun.

The partnership between Capcom and Nintendo was the brainchild of Yoshiki Okamoto, who had produced classics like Final Fight and Street Fighter 2 at Capcom. In the late '90s, he wanted his team to remake the original Legend of Zelda for Game Boy Color, then use those learnings to make a trilogy of original games for the platform.

Of those four games, only two were ultimately released: the Oracle games. All of this information is widely documented on various fan wikis, but a newly translated quote from Okamoto suggests that he was pretty audacious about his plans, and wasn't going to take no for an answer. Even if it meant threatening Shigeru Miyamoto himself.

"I especially like Zelda [1]. But Nintendo wouldn't port it to Game Boy Color," Okamoto said in a 1999 interview with the German magazine Total, which was recently translated by Did You Know Gaming. "So I told Mr. Miyamoto I'd produce it myself... but we couldn't come to an agreement. So in the end, I threatened him. I said if Nintendo's not up for it, we'll release an identical game with different characters and just call it something else."

I guess Miyamoto has a better sense of humor than Nintendo's lawyers, because this threat ultimately got the proper bargaining underway. Given how Nintendo typically treats products it thinks are similar to its own, well… I can only imagine the sassy, Palworld-style court drama headlines we'd have been getting back in the day.

Of course, Capcom couldn't truly make good on its end of the deal. The remake was canned when it hit development issues, so Okamoto's dream never really came true, and the planned trilogy was cut down to just two games. But Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages turned out to be great games, and Nintendo again collaborated with Capcom on The Minish Cap a short time later, so I suppose it all worked out in the end.

Check out our guide to the best Game Boy Color games of all time.

The developers of Dragon's Dogma 2 have confirmed the game will be getting a hard mode focused on giving those who have hit the level cap a challenge.

In a Q&A posted on the Dragon's Dogma 2 Steam Page, producer Naoto Oyama and returning Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen director Kento Kinoshita speak about the upcoming major update and the Dark Arisen expansion set to release in the coming months. The original Dark Arisen could be a bit of a nightmare depending on what point of the game you arrived at its content, and from the sounds of things, difficulty is part of the plan this time.

"Both the Forsaken Dominion and Lost Rites are expansion contents," Kinoshita explains, "so we've designed them to offer battles with an even greater sense of tension and challenge than the main game."

Confusingly, Kinoshita makes it sound like there will be some level of level scaling involved in the expansion, saying, "we're adjusting the balance so that everyone can enjoy the experience – whether they're just starting their adventure, still progressing through the game, or have already completed multiple playthroughs."

However, Oyama also adds that "the recommended starting level for Forsaken Dominion is 40, while that of Lost Rites is 20," and that while you can start the DLC content whenever, "ultimately, we'd like players to use those recommendations as a reference and choose their own path based on how they want to experience the game." To me, that sounds like it won't be level scaling at all.

Oyama says those levels aren't full-caps, either, as "these recommendations apply only to the beginning of each content. As players progress, the challenge gradually ramps up, and both experiences become increasingly demanding."

Speaking of more demanding, Kinoshita also confirms that a long-awaited feature is finally being added to the game, which should ease fears that the expansion content will be too easy: "We're working on a Hard Mode that will provide a satisfying challenge for seasoned players whose stats have reached, or are approaching, the level cap."

Unfortunately, neither can say when this will be made available, with Oyama saying: "Please stay tuned for further updates regarding the details of Hard Mode and its release window."

Capcom returns to its divisive RPG with Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, and the dev leading the expansion says its friction will be preserved – "That is something that we offer so that players can make a decision on how to play."

Pragmata's supporting hero Diana has hair that's almost as tall as her body and apparently took a huge amount of effort to animate properly. In fact, Diana's head of hair was so demanding that developers working on this year's breakout action game actually considered giving her the cost-cutting, hair-cutting treatment.

As reported on by Famitsu and translated by Automaton, character artist Kenji Irie and animator Serina Ohara spoke about the game's various bad hair days during the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference 2026.

The duo reportedly explained how most games use something called hair cards, which are flatter hair textures where the individual strands aren't animated separately. For Diana, flat hair wouldn't suffice. The devs apparently animated each strand individually and had to work on 430,000 animation points to make her mane move properly.

To save on the exorbitant money and time it would take to produce, process, and animate Diana's hair, the developers toyed around with the idea of a makeover. A makeover in the form of a bob cut, I should add, right smack in the middle of production. The Pragmata team apparently even made a model to test her new bob.

In the end, Pragmata didn't launch with a blond Edna Mode following players around. Capcom's team felt that a longer and wilder hairstyle suited Diana's personality more, and a girl who's spent her whole life on the moon likely wouldn't be getting regular haircuts anyway.

Short hair or no, Pragmata's become a big success in just a few short months. Capcom recently hinted that chances of a potential Pragmata 2 are high, and it's all thanks to the game selling over 2.5 million copies without any brand recognition.

Bayonetta creator says Capcom might be thriving thanks to a constant push to create new IP like Pragmata.