Resident Evil 9 was originally an online game, Capcom reveals footage of experimental concept

Capcom confirms that its dev teams explored many concept designs for the next Resident Evil game, including live online play set in an open world environment.

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Resident Evil 9 could've taken the mainline franchise in a wildly different direction than the terror-driven experience that Capcom ultimately set upon. Recent rumors from well-informed series insider DuskGolem say that Capcom was testing an online Resident Evil that took place in an open-world Raccoon City. Both Jill and Leon were to star in the online game, it's alleged.

Now Capcom has outright confirmed that this report was true. In a rare instance where gamers are invited to peek behind the curtains, the studio actually showed gameplay of the early prototype builds for the online Resident Evil project.

During a recent developer stream, Resident Evil 9 Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi just came right out and said it:

"You might have heard some of the rumors, things like an online Resident Evil or an open-world Resident Evil, which we spent some time experimenting with. But in the end, although we had some interesting concepts, we realized it wasn't what fans wanted to see or play," Nakanishi affirmed.

"So we went back to the drawing board and created what led to Resident Evil Requiem."

No, the ninth Resident Evil is purely singleplayer, but Capcom is hoping to hook players with a new emphasis on what it calls "addictive fear."

"Resident Evil Requiem is an offline single-player game, and we've managed to pack a lot into this game. We were even exploring many different systems early in development," producer Masachika Kawata said.

Resident Evil 9 releases on February 27, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.