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‘Resident Evil 4’ remake: Here’s everything we know so far

Published Apr 13th, 2020 9:51AM EDT
Resident Evil 4 remake release date
Image: Capcom

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  • Following the success of the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes, Capcom is said to be working on a remake of the highest-rated entry in the series: Resident Evil 4.
  • Resident Evil 4 remake reportedly began production in 2018 and release is planned for 2022.
  • Resident Evil 8 will launch before the Resident Evil 4 remake comes out.
  • Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.

Remasters of old video games can sometimes feel like cheap cash grabs, but over the last two years, we have seen developers take classic titles and completely rebuild them from the ground up, to the point where they’re hardly even recognizable as remakes. Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII remake is being lauded as one of the best games of 2020, and it launched just seven days after Capcom’s Resident Evil 3 remake, which has also been well received.

But few game studios, if any, have made remakes as much of a priority as Capcom. Resident Evil 2 was the top-rated game of 2019, Resident Evil 3 somehow launched just 15 months later, and now Video Games Chronicle reports that the studio is working on a Resident Evil 4 remake that has an estimated release window of 2022.

VGC, which has been the source of several noteworthy gaming industry leaks in recent months (including this one about a bunch of Mario remasters for Switch), claims that development of the Resident Evil 4 remake is being led by M-Two Inc., which is a relatively new studio backed by Capcom and founded by former PlatinumGames CEO Tatsuya Minami. The project has reportedly been in the works since 2018, and other studios, including Capcom itself, will likely assist with the development of the game, as was the case with the Resident Evil 3 remake.

In a second report, citing insider Dusk Golem, VGC reports that Resident Evil 4 has a larger team than those that worked on the previous two remakes. Several of the people who will be working on this new remake were part of the development team of the original Resident Evil 4, which came out on GameCube in 2005. They include the producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi and the designer Kouji Kakae, but the remake is reportedly being directed by a series newcomer at M-Two. VGC also says that M-Two is listening closely to feedback on the Resident Evil 3 remake.

Finally, Shinji Mikami, who directed Resident Evil 4, is said to have given the remake his “full approval,” but will not be heavily involved as his current obligation is to GhostWire: Tokyo for Bethesda.

Resident Evil 4 was a high-water mark for the franchise, receiving near-universal praise when it originally launched in 2005. The over-the-shoulder perspective was adopted by virtually every third-person shooter that followed, and it has been ported to Windows, Wii, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and even iOS.

As Dusk Golem notes in the Twitter thread above, the Resident Evil 4 remake will not be the next Resident Evil game to hit store shelves. Capcom is currently deep in production on Resident Evil 8, which is said to feature the same first-person perspective and the same protagonist as Resident Evil 7, but also “many narrative and mechanical departures for the series.” Resident Evil 8 will launch for current-gen and next-gen consoles in 2021.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.