After transporting Resident Evil fans to America, Spain, and Europe, Requiem producer says there’s one unvisited place the team has all ‘given some thought’ to

Despite coming from a Japanese studio, the Resident Evil series has never dipped its toe into Japan, at least in terms of a game’s setting. However, Resident Evil Requiem’s producer thinks every member of Capcom’s development team has at the very least considered the idea, and the series could well go there in the future.

Over the years, we have seen Resident Evil’s chaos unfurl in a variety of locations, from the iconic Racoon City in America, to Village’s isolated mountain region in Eastern Europe, and Resi 4’s plague-filled trip to rural Spain. So why not Japan?

“I think a Japanese setting is something every Japanese Resident Evil fan has thought about, and I’ve also considered it myself,” Resident Evil Requiem’s producer Masato Kumazawa said when asked this very question by Futaman (translated by Automaton). “Since the development team is primarily based in Japan, I think every member has given it some thought.” Kumazawa added that while Japan hasn’t been a setting for a Resident Evil game yet, “it might make an appearance at some point in the future”, so stay tuned.

Kumazawa also chatted more about how characters in the Resident Evil series age, although Capcom doesn’t follow any strict rules on this, or the Resi timeline in general. “We only started portraying characters aging with Resident Evil 4. In fact, we’ve even done things like moving the timeline backward between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, so we don’t follow any set rules,” he said, mirroring comments Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi made to Eurogamer in a recent wide-ranging interview about the game’s development.

Capcom does “adjust the timeline based on the assessment that present-day stories help players feel more immersed”, he continued, noting “the timeline also changes depending on the characters and story we want to portray in each title”. Kumazawa acknowledged that the series’ most recent entry, Resident Evil Requiem, has scenes set eight years prior to the events of the main story, as well as “even earlier” periods. “So, where the timeline goes from here will depend on the specific title,” he added.

Requiem, of course, features series mainstay Leon Kennedy in a lead role, with the former Racoon City police officer now in his early 50s but still with biceps simply desperate to burst out from his form fitting shirts. Speaking to Eurogamer, Nakanishi said he thought Leon would still make a compelling addition to the series as a 70-year-old. “I mean, I think Leon is really appealing in his current form,” Nakanishi told our Matt. “And who knows, we could bring him back when he’s 70, and I’m sure he’ll still be a great character.”

While the longer-term future of the series remains a mystery for now, Resident Evil Requiem has been a huge hit for Capcom, releasing to critical and commercial acclaim. We awarded it five stars in Eurogamer’s review, calling it “legendary horror at an all-time high”. It quickly became the fastest-selling entry in the series’ more than 30 year history and in April, a little less than two months after its release, Capcom celebrated Requiem passing 7m sales. A story expansion for Resident Evil Requiem is also planned, which will hopefully answer the lingering question of who (Chris) Leon now appears to be married to.