A somewhat reliable leaker has claimed Resident Evil 8 is not only in the works, but that it will launch in 2021, along with other details.

The Rumor

Twitter user and game news leaker AestheticGamer1 (also known as Dusk Golem) claimed that Resident Evil 8 was “years away” on January 21st.

The game had been in development since 2016, with development pausing to focus on Resident Evil 7‘s DLC, and the Resident Evil 2 remake. However, the project was scrapped in 2017 to be entirely reworked.

On January 28th, sources submitting to Biohazard Declassified stated Ethan Winters from Resident Evil 7 would be playable. The game would not be called Resident Evil 8, but would have a “clever title.” They also stated the game would be in first-person.

The game would be set in a snow, rural, and mountainous area with a village and castle. Regular zombies would return, as opposed to Resident Evil 7‘s Molded.

Other enemies included wolf-like creatures, and a “persistent shadowy ‘female’ enemy that will follow you but will dissipate if shot.” Chris Redfield would also have supposedly made an appearance.

On April 3rd Dusk Golem claimed that Resident Evil 8 would be “revealed within the next few months.” It was originally planned to be revealed at E3 2020 before it was cancelled.

They claim the game was originally developed as Resident Evil: Revelations 3. In fact, while the game intended to be Resident Evil 8 was “years away,” it was eventually pushed aside as Revelations 3 received “super positive” reactions in internal testing. This Resident Evil 8 may launch in 2021, as a cross generation title.

This resulted in it being given an extra year of development to be converted into Resident Evil 8. Citing another leak by “The Ambassador” “about Werewolves and Ethan in a Snowy Village are 100% true, but they’re outdated info.” 

This would seem to match the Biohazard Declassified info. Even so, Dusk Golem claims the game had large changes to make it fit a “mainline” Resident Evil title, including characters and story.

Dusk Golem also reaffirms that the game will be first person, but having story and thematic elements not seen in classic Resident Evil titles, or the series as a whole.

“It is first-person, and many purists are going to hate it because it’s taking some serious departures in the story/enemies and the like. Hallucinations, Occultism, insanity and not being able to trust others are huge thematics of the game.

The rest I’ll leave to be revealed later this month, but the game I am incredibly excited about. And I suggest those weary should be open minded, most who played the game near-finished as Rev 3 think it’s terrific. It’ll probably be a high quality game.”

Later, Dusk Golem discussed the game further [1, 2, 3], explaining that Capcom conducted internal tests, which would become games in the Resident Evil: Revelations series.

Discussing the themes of occultism and hallucinations, Dusk Golem insists this is not a dramatic departure from Resident Evil, and describes a supposed sequence that sounds as though the game is still using elements from the snowy mountain.

“One other thing, I know on paper ‘Occultism’, ‘Hallucinations’, etc., may sound Silent Hill-esque to some, but in practice the actual game won’t really be like that at all.

Hell, the one gameplay sequence in the game that’s been more fully leaked due to the Ambassador tests is a sequence where you’re in a village with multiple routes trying to make your way to a Castle, being attacked by Beast Men, zombies in armor with swords, and a Witch that laughs a lot.

The Witch is unkillable but turns into a swarm of insects if you shoot at her enough, the swarm of enemies is way too much for you to handle and in the sequence you barricade and push through trying to get to the safety of the castle.

It’s not a very psychological horror sequence at all, but the game is paced to mix up more intense sequences with quieter moments. It should still very clearly be a Resident Evil game, just a different kind of Resident Evil game tackling some different things than they usually do.”

Finally, Dusk Golem states Ethan and Chris were “changed.” This may mean only their designs have changed, or they are now different characters.

Is it True?

As a leaker, Dusk Golem was correct about Resident Evil 3 launching in April 2020, on December 10th 2019. He also discussed the new Silent Hill games rumors on January 21st (prior to Rely On Horror’s coverage and own sources). Konami denied the rumors, though we imagine it is doubtful they would confess to them being real.

While there is a chance Dusk Golem is lying, the fact he was correct about Resident Evil 3’s launch month is either the product of a well-calculated guess, or another source.

Even so, his responses based on elements of the snowy mountain build could have been invented after reading the Biohazard Declassified coverage.

While our confidence in the leak is not yet founded, the way the game is described would not be out of character for Capcom.

The success of the Resident Evil 2 reboot would dictate future Resident Evil games being made in a similar style. However, our review of Resident Evil 3 showed a much more linear and short experience.

The “persistent enemy” female creature or witch would seem to match the behavior of Resident Evil 2‘s Mr. X. Rather than briefly halting when taking enough damage, it sounds like the creature may respawn in a new location, or even lash out even worse than before.

Resident Evil 7 also helped revitalize the franchise after the luke-warm response to Resident Evil 6 [1, 2, 3]. As such, developing games in that style would also be a sensible business move.

According to the Resident Evil fan wiki [citing interviews by GameSpy, and EuroGamer], an earlier build of Resident Evil 4 featured the Leon infected with a virus that caused him to hallucinate enemies.  This was built upon an even earlier build, taking place within a castle.

Early builds Resident Evil 4 would later become Devil May Cry, though some ideas and concepts may have persisted over the years. The strong reactions to P.T. (Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills demo), and the lack of any recent Silent Hill games may also tempt Capcom to tackle new styles of horror- where before they would be in more direct competition with Konami.

Resident Evil 7 also focused on more psychological elements, especially the devastating effects inflicted upon the Baker family. Using a first person angle and similar play-style to that game would help establish it as a “psychological” Resident Evil title like 7, rather than a more action focused titled like 2 and 3.

Capcom are not slowing down with the success of Resident Evil 2, and are likely to keep experimenting and doing what they can with the franchise until people do not want it anymore.

It could be quite possible we will eventually get a remake of Resident Evil 4, utilizing third person and more of a focus on action. Original Resident Evil titles could continue in the same vein as Resident Evil 7, being first person, using smaller locations, and more focus on fear.

It is rare to see in a AAA video game company, but Capcom may not be hedging all their bets on one style of their most popular series. Adaption and evolution are key to survival after all.

Image: Resident Evil 3, Font Meme