Truly a teaser: The ‘Resident Evil 7’ demo won’t be in the final game

By Gabe Gurwin June 16, 2016

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is a massive departure for Capcom’s flagship franchise, replacing third-person zombie killing with a more atmospheric first-person experience, and dumping classic characters like Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine for a new “everyman” protagonist. Its demo, available right after Sony’s E3 press conference on Monday, clearly took a page out of the canceled Silent Hills‘ “Playable Teaser,” but if you expect to see this scene again come January, think again: It’s not in the game.

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Speaking to Polygon, director Koshi Nakanishi said that while the demo is “full representative” of the final game, the scene will not actually be in the game to avoid spoilers.

It sounds strikingly similar to P.T., which was likely to also be a one-off demo that wouldn’t be in the finished Silent Hills, but Nakanishi stressed that Resident Evil 7 will still feature plenty of weapons — it’s not going after the “just run” horror audience that has grown so much in recent years.

While the demo may not make it into the finished product, we were told by Capcom at E3 that it serves as a prologue for Resident Evil 7 and features a different protagonist than that of the rest of the game. And while the lack of familiar faces may make the game feel more like a reboot than a sequel, it will still be canon to the series.

Resident Evil 7 might just win the award for “best booth” at this year’s show, creating a terrifying house complete with dim lights, peeling paint, and for some reason, multiple front doors. If Capcom decided to build a Resident Evil theme park with multiple buildings to explore, we’d be all over it.

Resident Evil 7 arrives to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on January 24. The entire game will be playable in PlayStation VR.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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Resident Evil Village DLC, Exoprimal, and more headline Capcom Showcase

Ethan Winter's daughter Rosemary sits sadly on a bus in Resident Evil Village Shadow of Rose.

Following livestreams from Sony, Microsoft, and Geoff Keighley, Capcom decided to get in on the video game showcase fun. During its June 13 showcase, Capcom revealed the Shadows of Rose DLC for Resident Evil Village and provided some new looks at its other upcoming games like Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak and Exoprimal.
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The biggest announcement of the show by far was Resident Evil Village's long-awaited DLC. It stars Ethan Winter's daughter Rosemary, plays out from a third-person perspective, and is fittingly titled Shadows of Rose. It will be released on October 28 alongside the multiplayer Resident Evil Re:Verse and an update for Resident Evil Village that adds new content to Mercenaries mode and a third-person mode to Village's main campaign.
While that was the biggest reveal from the show, we also got a look at plenty of other Capcom games. The showcase started by giving us another look at Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak and revealing a demo for the expansion that launches on June 14. Capcom then reminded players of the release windows for Street Fighter 6, Capcom Fighting Collection, and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium but didn't reveal much in the way of new info for them. After that, Exoprimal got a brand-new trailer featuring its evil AI, Leviathan. Capcom showed how Exoprimal's PvPvDinosaur matches play out and the Exosuit classes players can choose from, then teased that a Closed Network Test will be held prior to the game's launch.
We also learned that a 10th anniversary Dragon's Dogma stream will be held on June 16 before getting another look at Resident Evil 4's remake. Capcom showed an extended version of the State of Play trailer before showing some new gameplay featuring improved visuals. It looks much more in line with Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3's graphics. The show concluded by revealing that PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of those remakes and Resident Evil VII launch today, June 13.
It was an underwhelming showcase overall, but painted an extremely clear picture of what we can expect from this lauded Japanese publisher over the next year.

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3 Resident Evil games are getting free next-gen upgrades

Jill Valentine shoots a zombie in the next-gen version of Resident Evil 3.

Capcom announced that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and its remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 are getting upgrades for PS5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X later this year. Players who already own these games on PS4 or Xbox One can upgrade for free.
Capcom hasn't detailed the technical specifications for each of the ports yet, but it did tease some of the features that it is adding. Capcom will implement ray-tracing, higher frame rates, and 3D audio into all versions of the game. The PS5 versions of these games will also utilize the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Gameplay footage hasn't been released yet, but Capcom shared a few screenshots showcasing the visual upgrade (click to enlarge).

Capcom also plans to bring these new visual features over the PC ports of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard via a patch in the future. The patch will be free to all who own the games. We do not know what these ports will be priced at for new players on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
All three of these games already looked incredible thanks to Capcom's propriety RE Engine, which was used to develop them, but these upgrades should make them all look on par with 2021's Resident Evil Village. In particular, Resident Evil 7's potential glow-up is the most exciting as that game was released in 2017.
All three of these Resident Evil games are currently available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One and will come to PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S later this year.

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For the third year in a row, E3 2022 will not happen as an in-person event. The Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the expo, has confirmed that the physical show has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the virus' new Omicron variant. In fact, the ESA didn't technically confirm that the show will happen in 2022 at all.

The news was broken by VentureBeat, which released a statement from the ESA regarding the yearly video game press conference. “Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022,” the ESA tells VentureBeat, “We are nonetheless excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”