
Today Capcom released its annual report intended for analysts and shareholders, and that included an interesting report by Resident Evil 2 Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda.

Kanda-san talks about the reception for the game after the reveal at E3 2018, and the origins of the project while many among the team where still working on Resident Evil 7 biohazard. We also hear that he believes that the diversity among titles of the series is one of its appealing points.

Nostalgic and New, the Legendary “RE 2” is Reborn “The zombies are horrifying!” “It looks so real, it’s terrifying… But I can’t stop playing!” These were just some of the player reactions at E3, one of the world’s largest game expos, held annually in the United States. When Resident Evil 2 (hereinafter, RE 2) was announced at the conference venue, the audience erupted with cheers. Lines formed at the Capcom booth, where attendees waited to play a demo version of the game. Fans who experienced this new horror cried out, “This is the Resident Evil I have been waiting for!” The reaction was even more positive than we expected, energizing and motivating the development team. The original Resident Evil 2, released in 1998, is often called a masterpiece even today, 20 years on. It is no easy task to take that original title, and recreate it using current technology in a way that will satisfy both new and long-time game players. However, it is because this was such a big challenge that our development team was all the more motivated to take it on. We launched into development of RE 2 with our minds set on satisfying the players’ expectations, and utilizing the best tools at our disposal to recreate the game anew. Actually, around that time, many of us were working on Resident Evil 7 biohazard (hereinafter “7”). Survival horror game fans have more than one need. 7 attempted to provide the ultimate horror experience with an overwhelming sense of immersion using VR. RE 2 aims for horror and entertainment, a game that is both scary and exciting. Each pursues a different way to enjoy the game. I think the diversity of this series, while always centered on horror, is very

appealing.

Kanda-san also talked at length about the technology powering the game, including the advanced audio tech that improves immersion, pushing for a “greater feeling of horror.”

Sight and Sound: Depicting Horror by Appealing to the Senses with Overwhelming Realism With this title, it was important to respect the original while making the newly rebuilt RE 2 enjoyable. To this end, in addition to the story, game system and visuals, we focused on the audio. In terms of the story, we followed the original while creating an even stronger sense of drama. For the game system, to maximize the fear of being eaten by zombies, we employed an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, enabling the user to see both the character they are playing and the attacking zombie. For the visuals, we used our proprietary RE ENGINE to create a photorealistic world of horror that could be mistaken for live action. In terms of audio, we used Capcom’s dynamic mixing stage, a newly built 3D audio booth in our R&D building with 7.1.4 channel Dolby Atmos. This enables changes in sound in real-time using binaural technology, enabling realistic audio that makes players feel as if they are actually there. Zombie moans can be heard to the right and left, in front and behind, affecting not only the sense of sight but of sound to make users experience a greater feeling of horror. Going forward, we will leverage the marketing expertise we’ve accumulated thus far to promote the game in major regions ahead of launch, primarily at major events, in areas such as North America, Europe, Japan and Asia, as well as in the rapidly growing South American market. I hope everyone is looking forward to the rebirth of RE 2, which is both nostalgic and new.

If you want to see more about Resident Evil 2, you can enjoy the latest gameplay and screenshots fresh from Tokyo Game Show, the latest trailer and more screenshots featuring Ada Wong and more, the previous gameplay, the announcement trailer, and another gallery of images. You should also definitely read my brand-new hands-on preview.

Resident Evil 2 will release on January 25th, 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can already pre-order the game and the Deluxe Edition on Amazon.