Resident Evil 8 May Already Be In Development For Next-Gen Consoles

With all the rumors flying around concerning a certain remake next year, it’s all too easy to forget about Resident Evil 8.

The sequel, which has yet to be officially confirmed by Capcom, is believed to have been greenlit for development not long after the release of 2017’s seventh installment and remains the only solid information fans have concerning the follow-up. Assuming Resident Evil 3: Nemesis truly is intended to receive a makeover in 2020, then, where does that leave the long-awaited continuation of the series’ refreshed narrative?

Without verified dates, we can only take a stab in the dark in terms of piecing together a timeline, though recent details shared by prominent Resident Evil leaker EVIL VR may help to shed some light on the topic. The retelling of Jill’s escape from Umbrella’s nightmarish Nemesis program, they say, is intended to be the final game in the franchise released for current-gen platforms. Combining those revelations with the knowledge that both Xbox Scarlett and PlayStation 5 are expected to land around this time next year, the picture becomes much clearer.

#RE3Remake will be the last RE game for this current-gen. Don’t expect #RE8 to come anytime soon for it was always planned to be for next-gen with the updated RE Engine, in which there are few new infos on the new engine and one of them is now having the cel-shading effect.

— EVIL VR (@EvilVR) November 22, 2019

In other words, Resident Evil 8 likely won’t be pencilled in for launch until 2021 at the earliest. With spinoff game Project Resistance said to be Capcom’s primary focus right now, the logical conclusion to make is that the multiplayer title will arrive within the first six months of 2020 while the Nemesis remake will be in the latter half. A tight squeeze, then, but we’ve no reason to believe that the latter can’t be part of a cross-generational release.

As always, we’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings, though if previous hearsay is to be believed, next month’s Game Awards could be a momentous occasion for Resident Evil fans. Watch this space.