A Resident Evil Japan setting could finally happen according to Capcom. In a recent interview with Japanese publication Futaman, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa revealed that the development team has actively thought about bringing the franchise to their home turf.
For a series that has spent three decades bouncing between American midwestern towns, European villages, and African wetlands, a Japanese setting would be a massive first.
Kumazawa noted that because the development team is primarily based in Japan, it is a concept everyone on the staff has naturally considered. While he made it clear that nothing is officially locked in, he teased that the location might make an appearance at some point down the line.
Interestingly, shifting a massive survival horror franchise to Japan isn’t completely unprecedented anymore. Konami actually beat Capcom to the punch by moving its own rival series to a historical Japanese setting last year with Silent Hill f.
Flexibility with the In-Game Timeline
Beyond discussing potential map locations, Kumazawa also shed some light on how Capcom handles the increasingly complicated Resident Evil timeline. Fans have noticed characters like Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, and Chris Redfield getting visibly older, but the studio doesn’t actually tie itself down to strict timeline rules.
Kumazawa explained that the team has plenty of flexibility. While they prefer modern-day settings because they help players feel more immersed, they are not afraid to jump backward or forward to make a story work. For instance, the timeline famously moved backward between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. Even the narrative in Requiem jumps around quite a bit, featuring playable segments set eight years prior alongside flashbacks to even earlier eras.
Ultimately, Kumazawa emphasized that Capcom’s goal is to keep shaking things up so the formula never gets stale. While they will always preserve the core characters and lore that fans love, they want to keep taking on fresh creative challenges so players don’t get bored.
