Capcom hasn't officially announced Resident Evil 9 but the publisher/developer has reportedly been working on the game for years now. And while we don't have official details, a reputable insider has revealed that the next installment in the action horror franchise could be going open world.
Reputable leaker Dusk Golem took to social media this week to share some new information about the next Resident Evil game, which is speculated to launch in 2025.
The big takeaway this time is that Resident Evil 9 could embrace an open-world environment. Citing Capcom's pattern of greenlighting projects in trios to take advantage of new technology, it's reported that the publisher has greenlit Dragon's Dogma 2 (now available), Monster Hunter Wilds, and Resident Evil 9 with the intention of expanding its in-house engine's open-world functionality.
Now that Capcom has successfully leveraged the RE Engine to create an open world experience in Dragon's Dogma 2, the leaker claims the same will be true for Monster Hunter Wilds and Resident Evil 9.
This would be a massive shift for the franchise which is traditionally a more linear experience, or at least smaller open areas that are interconnected to make up a larger world. However, Dusk Golem maintains that even with a move to open world, Resident Evil 9 would retain "the DNA" of the franchise.
Obviously, this is all speculation and rumor for now as Capcom hasn't officially announced anything yet. But the fact that the next Resident Evil game has been in development for longer than usual would seemingly indicate a major shake-up for the series.
Capcom is coming off the release of Dragon's Dogma 2 which is set in a seamless open world that is four times larger than the map from the first game. Is this an indication of the sort of map we can expect to see in Resident Evil 9?
Dragon's Dogma 2 has received generally favorable reviews, with most of the criticism directed more towards Capcom implementing numerous microtransactions that allow players to purchase shortcuts for in-game features. While you can still unlock these features by playing the game, many took issue with the sheer number of microtransactions.
Let's hope Capcom leaves the microtransactions behind when adopting this new open world approach to Resident Evil 9.