Masato Kumazawa breaks it all down.
Resident Evil Requiem is barrelling towards its February 2026 release date, and Stevivor was fortunate enough to sit down with producer Masato Kumazawa last week to discuss the sequel, the franchise at large, and a number of lingering questions that have come about.
In the interview, presented in full below, Kumazawa-san calls specific leaks regarding Leon S. Kennedy “fake news”, speaks to how Resident Evil Outbreak and Outbreak File 2 fit into Requiem and the franchise’s 30th anniversary celebrations, and why Requiem won’t be offering up a public demo ahead of launch.
Please note that Kumazawa’s responses were delivered through an interpreter. (Update, 18 November: We’ve also clarified that while Kumazawa-san acknowledges there are playable demos of Resident Evil Requiem, as evidenced by previews played at Gamescom and this month in Sydney, there will not be a demo available to the general public.)
This is very much a picture of Leon from RE2.
Steve Wright, Stevivor: Can we talk about Leon S. Kennedy? His inclusion in Requiem has been rumoured or leaked for some time now…
Masato Kumazawa, producer of Resident Evil Requiem: Apart from any official information that Capcom has released, the rest is more detective work [on the part of players]. So I would suggest to please not take everything at face value.
Considering that now is the time when AI [can be used to make] videos and photos, we don’t know what’s right or what’s wrong. It’s just that players are free to believe what they would like to believe; what I’d like to tell is that, please, unless it’s officially released from Capcom, we can’t give you any confirmation.
There has been a photo lately of Leon with an eye patch, and just basically saying there’s a DLC or a new costume for Leon — but just to make sure, these are all fake news.
Resident Evil Requiem protagonist, Grace Ashcroft.
I understand that Grace was chosen as the protagonist for her vulnerability — did the team draw inspiration for her from the likes of Claire Redfield or Rebecca Chambers? Or is she different or unique in personality?
Because this is a new game, we were trying to get new types of horror. We thought that because Grace, being a little bit more scared than the other characters, [would] be able to give a new type of scare and experience when compared to other characters like Claire or Rebecca.
RE7 made the bold choice to go into first-person mode, and while Village retained that, it also later provided an option to play in third-person, as will Requiem from launch. Can you take me through Capcom’s decision to first switch to first-person and, later, to allow for the choice of that or third-person?
So, what happened is that when we released the third-person perspective in the Village, we had lots of feedback.
We had a lot more feedback than expected from the players, and what we thought is that when Requiem, I thought to myself, ‘well, I want to let the players choose which one they prefer’. That was it, so they can enjoy the game in their own way, that they like.
First- or third-person? The choice is yours.
One of the [most] important [pieces of] feedback that we got from RE7 was that the game was a little bit too scary, so I thought, in order to [lessen] the experience, we added the option for having a third-person perspective. To sort of ease the horror.
What mode — first- or third-person — do you prefer, and why?
I prefer the third-person perspective, but this is more because I can see the character and I can see what the character’s seeing, and feel how the character’s feeling as well. We can both feel the same emotion.
By the way, the director [Koshi Nakanishi] prefers the first-person perspective, but that’s for him to immerse himself. So, by having both, I like… how players can enjoy both perspectives.
RE Outbreak’s Alyssa Ashcroft (left), and her daughter Grace (right).
I’m 43, so I grew up on the original RE trilogy alongside Outbreak and File 2 and am very familiar with both Raccoon City and Alyssa Ashcroft. However, those who’ve got to know Raccoon City through RE2 and RE3 remakes mightn’t be familiar with Alyssa (even though she was referenced in RE7). How important is a knowledge of Outbreak in this game?
Well, I just want to say not at all. We make sure that players who didn’t play Outbreak, and players who have played Outbreak, will both be able to enjoy as much as they can.
The reason why we chose Alyssa was just because she was just a victim of the Raccoon City incident. She had a clear aim, a clear motive, so she was very just easy to introduce in this scenario.
What remains of the Raccoon City Police Department.
And on that, how important are Outbreak and File 2 in the larger celebration of Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary?
I mean, first of all, I just wanted to say as the first online titles, these are important parts of the Resident Evil history.
And, also, the story involved in those games — they’re very important. We treasure them very much. It’s a very important part of the franchise.
Returning to Raccoon City is HUGE for longtime fans; I consider Raccoon City as much of a character as Leon or Claire. How did your team approach this reunion?
It’s lots of pressure to revisit a location from 20 years ago.
For most of us, actually, we wanted to know what actually happened [to Raccoon City] as well, so it’s an honour to be making and creating this story of the city.
Requiem’s Raccoon City.
RE7’s Beginning Hour demo was a game-changer. As a lifelong fan, I was amazed that I got to jump in and see what I could expect from the next big release, but in a way that was unique, and different than just a slice from the game itself. Can we expect something similar for Requiem?
So, in terms of a demo play, we actually have no plan for one [for the general public] at the stage. None at all. We just want to focus on finishing off the game.
Our development team is just doing its best to make sure that it’s creating the best quality game; to make sure that it’s a fine product.
Our thanks to Kumazawa-san and his interpreter for their time. We also extend a big thanks to Five Star Games’ Mikey Foley, who was kind enough to read our submitted questions to Kumazawa-san as I was unable to attend the interview as a result of a family emergency.
Expect Resident Evil Requiem from 27 February 2026 on Windows PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
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