10 Theories About The Next Resident Evil Game

10 Theories About the Next Resident Evil Game

Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re theorizing, speculating, hypothesizing, proposing and guessing what the next mainline Resident Evil game could include storywise as well as new gameplay features and mechanics.

1st or 3rd?

Besides a couple oddities, shoutout to RE Survivor, prior to Resident Evil 7, the Resident Evil series had primarily been a 3rd person shooter staple with the series adopting an over-the-shoulder perspective ever since Resident Evil 4. However, since 2017, the series has split into two perspectives with the mainline games continuing in first-person and the remakes adopting the more traditional 3rd person. This has led many fans to speculate whether the series will continue with the first-person shooter aspect or return to the more traditional over-the-shoulder viewpoint. The recent Shadows of Rose update and DLC furthered this speculation by giving players the option to play RE Village in 3rd person as well as Rose’s DLC also being 3rd person. Given the rumors of the fan favorite main characters of the series finally reteaming up, it’s most likely the game will return to the traditional 3rd person perspective die-hard fans know and love.

The OGs Return

Ever since the last entry to feature all the beloved main characters of the series, RE6 back in 2012, fans have eagerly been awaiting the OGs to once again team up to take down hordes of mutations, especially Jill Valentine who has been suspiciously absent besides RE1, 3, and 5 and the first RE: Revelation game. With rumors this could be the final entry for many of the main characters, this would ideally be the best time for all these beloved characters and even some of the more popular side characters such as Barry, Rebecca and Ada could all return in some capacity. While the last title to have the mainstays team up was a mixed bag, this new and improved Capcom has earned a lot of goodwill with the series and has much more potential to deliver what fans truly want from a team-up of the OGs. RE Survivors Assemble!

The Connections Connected

Capcom’s attempts to create a new Umbrella Corporation with the organization “The Connections”, so far haven’t measured up as little is known about them or their overall goals besides what has transpired in RE7 and Village despite the organization supposedly being around for over 2 decades. With Winter’s storyline seemingly coming to its conclusion, how deep the Connections influence goes could be explored in RE9. Are they the mysterious Blue Umbrella and are they connected to the BSAA turn briefly mentioned at the end of Village or will they be completely forgotten and presumed disbanded by the time RE9 finally releases? While the Umbrella Corporation was a very constant threat in the early games that players were able to connect to via the many hidden laboratories and constant advertisements in the games, The Connections has mostly been relegated to missable documents and collectibles, barely giving players anything to connect to.

Open World Island

Recent rumors hint to the 9th mainline entry in the series going bigger than ever before and could give players the biggest area to explore in the series history. While Village gave players more freedom to discover the small town at their own leisure, RE9 might give players an entire island to survive against any number of horrific mutations. However, giving players unlimited freedom to explore does bring its own challenges as nailing the true horror aesthetic becomes much more difficult if the player is expected to find many of the series’ iconic terrifying moments at their own discretion. It’s more likely the openness of RE Village will just be expanded upon with much of the game still guiding the player through the main story beats while allowing them to explore off the beaten path at specific intervals.

Survivors

Alongside rumors of the main cast returning, many are wondering just how many will survive until the end. Given the time jump at the end of RE Village and Rose’s mention of Chris, we can safely assume the badass member of STAARS makes it out alive but who else is safe? Most likely Jill, Leon and Claire will live to fight another day, whereas the most popular recurring characters could end up on the chopping block such as Barry Burton, Ada Wong, and Rebecca Chambers. Given how many times Ada has supposedly died and returned, seeing her death become permanent would be devastating to fans and given Barry’s age, his days of fighting the undead are already numbered as it is. Rebecca would probably be the most likely, although her lack of screentime could also be what ends up saving her in the end as her death would be the least impactful

Wesker’s Return

The Fab Four might not be the only recurring character making a grand return to the series according to one Tumblr user. While taking a closer look at Heisenberg’s wall, they noticed a rather familiar looking sunglass fanatic who bears a striking resemblance to the notorious villain Albert Wesker. Ever since his turncoat in the original Resident Evil, Wesker has been the master manipulator behind the scenes until Chris finally put a stop to his evil ways at the end of Resident Evil 5. But this is Albert Wesker we’re talking about here. This would also explain Heisenberg’s comment in which he knew about Chris’ boulder punching ways if Wesker was in contact with Mother Miranda. Seeing as this could be the final outing for the team that started it all, it would make sense that the antagonist who set them up would also get taken down properly by the entire former STARS team.

The End of the Beginning

For almost 30 years, Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire have been fighting against Umbrella and their many subsidiaries and shell corporations to stop their horrendous experiments and mutations but with the 9th mainline entry, all of that could finally be coming to an end. With RE9 purportedly being the final entry for all the fan favorite characters while also setting up the future of the franchise, the Fantastic Four could be going out in a big way before their inevitable retirement. It would seem that Capcom was testing whether the series could continue without the main cast with the likes of RE7 and Village, although these titles did still end up tying into the overall narrative, and even though Ethan Winters ended up being a bit of a blank slate, the success of these two entries likely gave Capcom the confidence to continue without the beloved OG characters in the leading roles.

The Timeline

While the timeline of events in the RE universe has long been speculated as well as what is truly considered canon, the timeline at least in its current form might be coming to an end. While the end of Village set up several intriguing plot threads, Capcom isn’t above abandoning cliffhangers and telling whatever story they want that fits the characters. With the possibilities of both the Blue Umbrella and BSAA cliffhangers being left on the cutting room floor, fans have been speculating on not only the plot of the game but where it could fall within the larger timeline. We know that some form of Chris’ agency remains after the time jump at the end of Village as well as the mold being all but eradicated, giving the developers almost a 20-year window within their timeline to tell their next horrific adventure and sending our heroes off in style.

New Threats

For almost 30 years, the main threat of the Resident Evil series has been the undead zombie hordes as well as whatever twisted and horrific mutations the numerous viruses managed to create, but Resident Evil 7 and Village introduced several new threats to the series. While the mold wasn’t exactly a fan favorite, the werewolves of Village proved to be a significant new threat and with Resident Evil 9, there seems to be even more dangerous threats in the series future. Recent rumors point not only to faster and more aggressive zombie types but also something more akin to the Wendigos which in addition to posing a significant danger just from their speed, size and gangly limbs, will also reportedly be able to mimic character voices to lure unsuspecting players into traps. This is in addition to whatever nightmare inducing mutations Capcom has in store for us.

Release Window

With all of Capcom’s recent remakes as well as Resident Evil Village all releasing in the first half of the year, players had plenty of time to dive in and replay the newest releases all year long and this has proved a financially successful strategy. With fan anticipation through the roof and fans expecting Capcom to continue their release schedule of remake and then mainline game, many are hoping for a late 2024 reveal and early 2025 release date to be imminent. However, Capcom already has a major franchise planned for release in early 2025 with Monster Hunter Wilds. Given the marketing push for this new entry in what is another of Capcom’s biggest money makers, it's more likely we’ll have an RE9 reveal during summer 2025 with a full release in 2026. Given Capcom’s recent renaissance with their beloved franchises, we’re willing to give them all the time they need to produce another banger.

What are you most hoping for in Resident Evil 9? Let us know down in the comments.