'Resident Evil Village' Will Launch in 2021, What We Know So Far

As “Resident Evil Village” prepares us for another descent into madness, we look at what we know so far about the latest installment in Capcom’s survival horror franchise.

After Capcom stopped cranking out new games to release remakes for “Resident Evil 2” and “Resident Evil 3,” “Resident Evil Village” will bring back the series’ newfound first-person gameplay that will supposedly take inspiration from horror movies like “The Exorcist” and “The Blair Witch Project.”

During the massive PlayStation 5 livestream event on June 11, Sony and Capcom announced that “Resident Evil Village” will be released for the next-gen console in 2021. Although a specific release date still has not been revealed, Inverse reports that industry insider Dusk Golem, who first disclosed that RE8 would launch in 2021 back in April, has returned with another lengthy Twitter thread on Monday.

This time, they’re reporting that sources claim RE8 will be included in the PS5 event scheduled for later this week. They also dropped a juicy hint about the game’s title, which backed up previously unconfirmed leaks about the game's title and key plot details.

“’Resident Evil 8’ I'm mighty positive [will show up at the PS5 reveal event],” they tweeted. “I mentioned the timing [and] effort to make an all platform sale for the series on all platforms that started at the original reveal event, but also just today Capcom did the long-awaited request and organized the RE games, made them all the same capitalization, appear in numbered order. Almost like they want to organize them before a weirdly named entry is revealed.”

Regarding the length of gameplay, that has not yet been spilled by Capcom. Yet Dusk Golem has claimed to know roughly how long it will be on their Twitter account. "I don't know the exact play time but I've heard pretty reliably out of the RE Engine games it'll be the longest one. Not the absolute longest RE game, I personally suspect it'll be shorter than RE6/RE4, but I've heard it's longer than RE7/RE2/RE3."

Currently, “Resident Evil 6” is the longest game in the series, with a 21-hour campaign, while both recent remakes come in at around six to eight hours. So expect “Resident Evil Village” will reportedly be somewhere between those two extremes.

Regarding the storyline for the game, if the trailer released in June is a basis, players will fight for every breath as they are hunted by vicious new enemies that have infested the snow-capped locale. Channeling the capabilities of next-generation consoles, the detailed realism and relentless feeling of fear will increase with each desperate battle for survival, while moments of calm will leave players wondering what new horrors await.

Ethan will once again be the playable character, but with a first-person point of view again, surely making old school fans of the series miss the third-person action of years past. Dusk Golem said that "hallucinations, occultism, insanity, and not being able to trust others are huge thematics of the game" and also noted that RE7 protagonist Ethan Winters would return to fend off “werewolves” in a “snowy village.”

Inverse reports that on Monday, fan website Biohazard Declassified published more unconfirmed details that tie into everything we’ve heard about this next chapter. Here’s a rundown of everything the new site reported:

1. Occultism will play a big role in RE8, but there won’t be any magic. Instead, there’s a cult that worships the monsters created by the Mold, infectious, fungal superorganism. Players will experience hallucinations due to the Mold being airborne.
2. The main villain will be named Alan R., a mysterious Count who lives in a castle and is an esteemed member of “The Connections,” the crime syndicate who created the Mold.
3. A lot of the game will be set outdoors and include areas named: The Castles, Caves, Forests, and Village.
4. A new playable character named Emily, a woman in her late-20s, will help Ethan on his journey.
5. Ethan is abducted from a remote life with his wife Mia and wakes up in the Village. He has to find his way back to his home while investigating the unexplained disappearances in the area.
6. Finally, there will be a host of new enemies including zombies, pale humanoids, dogs, wolves, werewolves, and monsters that resemble Lickers.