A recent interview with Masachika Kawata, a developer at Capcom who produced the recent 3DS game Resident Evil: Revelations, has revealed some of the intention behind the planned HD home console port of the game, as well as some possible hints at the series’ future.
The interviewer noted both the tepid critical reception Resident Evil 6 received last year as well as a common fan suggestion to take the series in an open-ended sandbox direction. Kawata’s response was that such a radical shift in designing the game that way would be reason enough to possibly push the reset button on the series’ timeline, ending with, “A lot of decisions would have to be taken before something like that is done to the series, but there is a possibility.”
Kawata said that Capcom will be very analytical when it comes to the PC and console release of Revelations in May when it comes to how critics, consumers, and longtime series fans react to it.
“Once we see Revelations released on consoles, we’ll be looking very carefully at how the title is received and what feedback we get,” Kawata was quoted as saying. “I think we’ll get a lot of input from the fanbase and the media on what it means for Resident Evil, and what it could mean for the future of the series. We’ll definitely be looking at that as a signpost for where we need to be going next.”
Finally, Kawata addressed Capcom’s decision to not port Revelations to the Vita, saying it was not due to poor hardware sales for the handheld, but that their focus this time around was bringing the game to home consoles, and not other portable systems.
With the lukewarm reaction to Resident Evil 6 and the generally more favorable reaction to Revelations, it will be interesting to see whatever direction Capcom chooses to take the series in next.
As always, we will keep you updated on news regarding the Resident Evil franchise.
