A consensus has formed thatResident Evilis in one of the best states it’s ever been in. The survival horror franchise has been thriving ever since the release ofResident Evil 7: Biohazard. This is due to both Capcom’s renewed efforts in polishing the games and making full use of its RE Engine, as well emphasizing the series’ horror roots over action in most cases. Even then, there is still acknowledgement ofResident Evil’s B-movie influencesand arcade-style extras, fleshing out every major title into great packages that keep fans coming back for more.
The streak kept going withResident Evil’s most recent title,Resident Evil Village. AsVillageis the eighth mainline title in the series, it continues the story of Ethan Winters, a nondescript family man who must contend with some of the strangest horrors theResident Eviluniverse has seen. While the game’s quality in relation to the other all-time classicREgames is up for debate, it proved to be another successful effort and has sold over six million copies.Resident Evil Villageperformed so well that Capcom announced it would be getting DLC just a month after its launch. However, its May 7th anniversary has come and gone without news on the DLC, and many are wondering what’s going on.
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Why Resident Evil Village’s DLC is Taking So Long
It seems strange that an entire year could pass withoutResident Evil Village’s DLC receiving so much as a tease, but there are a few potential reasons why. As fans were told during E3 2021, the DLC did not begin development until after the game was out. This implied that DLC may not have been in the scope forResident Evil Village, so its development team had to come up with something new.Resident Evil 7andRE2 Remake’s DLCwas seemingly planned from the beginning, and also featured short scenarios with heavy asset reuse. IfResident Evil Village’s new content is intended to be something larger, like a prequel campaign for Chris Redfield, then it makes sense that more work would have to be done.
The ongoing pandemic likely contributed to development delays, butRE VillageDLC may have been affected by other sources. Namely, its developers may be preoccupied with the otherResident Evilprojects that fans suspect are happening concurrently.Resident Evil 4 Remakefeels very likelyat this point, but it allegedly had some shifts in development. Rumor has it that Capcom shifted the primary studio fromResident Evil 3 Remake’s external developers over to an internal group, which likely includes some of theVillageteam.Resident Evil Re:Verseis also still missing in action after an indefinite delay.Re:Versemay have been intended to get continual updates instead ofResident Evil Village, leaving Capcom unprepared to tackle a proper add-on for the latter.
Capcom’s Plans for Resident Evil Village and the Future
All of this leaves the future ofResident Evil Villageand the wider franchise as a mystery. Capcom probably didn’t abandon something as successful asVillage, so fans should expect to hear more on it eventually. A good suspect for when DLC news could drop is the next State of Play presentation, an event that many are suspecting to happen in the next few months. Hopefully, even if the DLC still needs more time, the nature of the additional content will be explained. Recent reports have suggested thatRe:Versemay be getting a proper release datesoon, so multipleResident Evilannouncements could drop at once.
IfResident Evil 4 Remakestill isn’t ready to be announced, then substantialResident Evil VillageDLC could fill out Capcom’s release schedule. Capcom’s future game releases are conspicuously vague right now, with onlyExoprimalandPragmatacoming for sureafterMonster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. It feels like the trade show season will be illuminating as to what Capcom’s plans are. In the meantime, fans must continue to wait for news onResident Evil Village’s DLC, hoping that it can live up to the wild ride that wasVillageitself.
Resident Evil Villageis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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