Earlier this week, Capcom shared a new preview for Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth game in the long-running franchise. According to Capcom, Requiem is already on 1 million wish lists across PSN and Steam. But would the number have been that high if Capcom went through with its original plans to make Requiem an online game?

Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi shared an online developer diary on Capcom’s official site (via VGC) and revealed that the game was originally developed as an online title. Nakanishi added that the team came up with “interesting concepts” for the game, but ultimately abandoned their online plans when the team realized that RE fans didn’t want it. Instead, Requiem was re-envisioned as a single-player game like its eight predecessors.

Considering the origins of Requiem as an online title, that may explain why it features Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from the franchise’s first multiplayer game, Resident Evil Outbreak. The story is also picking up the narrative threads from the first three RE games by returning to Raccoon City 30 years after it was bombed to end the zombie infestation.

During the Capcom Showcase, one of Requiem’s devs explained why Leon Kennedy is a bad fit for horror games like the current chapter in the franchise. Grace is an FBI agent in the game and she does have some firearm experience, but she’s not an action hero like Leon. It’s going to be more of a struggle for Grace to survive than it would have been for Leon.

Resident Evil Requiem will hit Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC on February 27, 2026. That date is just under a month shy of the 30th anniversary of the original Resident Evil game.