Resident Evil Requiem Producer Reveals Why Multiplayer Was Axed, and What’s Still Left of It

Resident Evil Requiem was supposed to be a very different game. According to producer Masato Kumazawa, the ninth installment in Capcom’s legendary horror series kicked off as an online open-world multiplayer project, not the classic single-player experience fans were expecting.

But big shifts happened behind the scenes. In an interview with Press Start Australia, Kumazawa broke down why the original multiplayer concept was shelved, and what remnants from that version survived into the final game.

Multiplayer in Resident Evil Requiem Was “Fun”, But Not Nearly Scary Enough

“There are some remaining elements,” Kumazawa said when asked if traces of the old multiplayer design still exist, “but we can’t disclose what it is and how it is.” The multiplayer build wasn’t scrapped because it was broken. By Kumazawa’s own description, “We made a game that was fun to play.”

But fun wasn’t enough. “Looking at the game when it was multiplayer, the horror part was very mild,” he explained. And in the world of Resident Evil, horror isn’t just a feature, it’s the whole point. “We looked deeply into this game and wondered if a fan of the franchise would really like this. So we thought they probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much.”

That caused the team to make a major pivot. “That’s the reason we made it back into single player,” Kumazawa said. But not everything was thrown out with the multiplayer concept. “Because it was fun, we added elements from that build to the final game to ensure it was fun.”

What Fans Expect, And Why “Scary” Still Rules

Kumazawa made it clear that fan expectations shaped pretty much every major decision. When asked what the Resident Evil core audience actually wants from a new title, his answer was blunt: “I believe fans of the franchise want survival horror and being scared. That is the number one thing that fans want.”

It’s not just about recognizable characters or settings. According to Kumazawa, “We can’t just slap on new skins and new characters and give you the same experience. It wouldn’t be that good.” In other words, what makes Resident Evil, well, Resident Evil, is the drive to scare you all over again; not just the faces or the lore.

So, while the final version of Resident Evil Requiem might look like a return to tradition, some of the fun, experimental DNA of the original multiplayer prototype lives on. The developers just aren’t ready to spill exactly how, and they’re definitely not forgetting what long-time fans demand.