Capcom has responded to ongoing fan speculation about Resident Evil Requiem being an open world game with a definitive-sounding response.
Fan discussion and leaks around the game have long pointed to Requiem featuring more open exploration than in previous Resident Evil titles. This suggestion was fuelled further earlier this month by the release of a fresh gameplay snippet that included a look at a bustling city street, complete with pedestrians and traffic.
Now, however, Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi has stepped in to set the record straight, having seen the discussion online. In short, anyone hoping for an open world Resident Evil should reset their expectations.
“[The development team] did just want to make clear one point,” Nakanishi told Game Informer. “They’ve seen some speculation of whether there’s any open world elements in the game, and they just want to set the record straight that this isn’t an open world game.
“The main concept behind this game is combining the very different gameplay of Grace and Leon into a cohesive package, and having those two gameplays represent the Resident Evil series, and I think when you play the game, you realize that, or you will find as well that the development team picked the best approach to do this.”
In other words, what you should expect from this game is for Grace and Leon’s portions to feel like how they’ve already been pitched, with Grace’s focus on horror and Leon’s focused on action, as an extension of the Resident Evil franchise’s existing games.
In IGN’s just-published Resident Evil Requiem final preview, we described Grace’s gameplay sections as familiar to anyone who has played Resident Evil 2 or 7. Leon’s gameplay sections, meanwhile, stirred up our muscle memory of playing Resident Evil 4. Neither of those games were open world, so it sounds like we shouldn’t expect Requiem to be open world either.
“This year is the 30th anniversary of the Resident Evil series, so it feels like no coincidence that 2026’s Resident Evil Requiem is combining the best ideas of the saga into what appears to be a fantastically constructed tribute to everything that makes the series so great,” IGN wrote. “Do you like tense survival horror? It’s here. Wanna go all guns blazing with intense action and a quip-obsessed hero? You get that too.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
