Capcom wants to release one Resident Evil game a year, and remakes are the best way to do it
Masachika Kawata explains that the commercial success of Resident Evil allows Capcom to maintain an annual release schedule and take risks with games like Pragmata or Kunitsu-Gami.
If there’s one series that has guaranteed Capcom a significant number of copies sold—and, consequently, millions in revenue—in recent years, it’s Resident Evil (and Monster Hunter). In a recent interview, producer Masachika Kawata stated that the company doesn’t want to choose between quantity and quality when it comes to the franchise, but rather to combine both and aim to release one installment each year.
Resident Evil sales aren’t just about lining their pockets; they’re also meant to allow the company to take risks on titles like Pragmata and Kunitsu Gami: Path of the Goddess—two projects that are rare exceptions in an industry that’s increasingly reluctant to take risks. That said, Kawata is aware that “producing a new entry in the Resident Evil series every year would be quite an undertaking and a difficult task.”
“Being able to revisit older games and remake them helps Capcom meet that goal of releasing a Resident Evil title each year, but it also allows the team to continually challenge themselves and hone their craft,” Kawata said in Game Informer. “That’s not to say the remakes are any less important. In fact, they’re just as important as the mainline titles.”
“Capcom is lucky enough to have found this cycle that can continue to provide us with the financial resources to create things like new entries in the Resident Evil series and completely new IP like Pragmata. So there is that relationship there,” he concludes.
Capcom Has Been on a Roll for Years
Fans are probably skeptical when they hear about franchises with annual releases, but the reality is that Capcom has been one of the most financially sound publishers of the past decade. Best-selling titles like Monster Hunter World, the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4, and Street Fighter 6 have allowed the company to also release completely original games, such as the aforementioned Pragmata and Kunitsu Gami, as well as the less successful Exoprimal.
Not only that, but the Japanese company has been able to afford to experiment with its flagship franchise. Encouraged by the success of indie first-person games, Capcom ventured into a similar formula with Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village—two installments that, while they didn’t match the sales figures of the most successful titles, still achieved more than respectable numbers.
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The next game in the series is Resident Evil Veronica, a remake of Resident Evil: Veronica, and it will be released sometime next year.
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