Resident Evil Requiem underwent a major transformation during its six-year development, according to the director, and revisits the narratives of the first six titles.

Resident Evil Requiem’s director, Koshi Nakanishi, revealed that the journey to the ninth installment in this iconic survival horror franchise began roughly six years ago. However, the version players can experience in the demo—and what will ultimately be released—only truly took shape about three years back.

In a translated blog post, Nakanishi shared insights into the development process, noting a significant shift in direction midway through. “Development started on a small scale six years ago,” he explained. “However, the current form that everyone has now played came to be about three years ago.”

This timeline indicates that development kicked off around 2020, even though the previous entry in the series launched in 2021. “We started development after the apparent conclusion of Ethan’s story with Resident Evil 7, and what would be the eighth numbered title, Resident Evil Village,” he added.

While the Resident Evil series is typically organized into trilogies, Nakanishi cautioned that Requiem, despite being the ninth entry, does not directly connect to the narratives of the seventh and eighth games. Instead, it revisits the storyline established in the first six titles.

“We’re thankful that Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8 received high praise, but they were written to be somewhat disconnected from the story up through Resident Evil 6,” Nakanishi clarified. “Because of this, we began work on this project as we thought it was about time to get back to that story.”