Skip to main content

Here’s exactly when you can play Resident Evil Village’s timed demos

Resident Evil Village is getting a series of demos, but with one big catch. The demos will only be available for a very limited time. Players will get to explore a chunk of the world during the demo window, but it will disappear afterwards.

Announced at the Resident Evil spring showcase, the demo strategy is a little complicated. The main demo allows players to try a full hour of the game that takes them into both the village and castle areas, and will be available on Steam, Stadia, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Resident Evil Showcase | April – Gameplay Demo Reveal

The other demo is called 8 Hours in Village and is exclusive to PlayStation owners. It’s a bit of an early access situation where players will have 30 minutes to explore the castle in one session and the same amount of time to explore the village in another. It’s not clear if this version of the demo is exactly the same as the one-hour version, just split into two parts. This is also separate from the previously released, PlayStation-exclusive Maiden demo.

It’s all a little confusing, so here are the exact times when you’ll be able to play each Resident Evil Village demo.

Village Demo

  • Platforms: PS4/PS5
  • Details: 30 minutes to explore the village location.
  • Demo time: 5 p.m. PT on April 17 to 1 a.m. PT on April 18

Castle Demo

  • Platforms: PS4/PS5
  • Details: 30 minutes to explore the castle location.
  • Demo time: 5 p.m. PT on April 24 to 1 a.m. PT on April 25

Village And Castle Demo

  • Platforms: PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S/Steam/Stadia
  • Details: 60 minutes to explore both the castle and village locations.
  • Demo time: 5 p.m. PT on May 1 to 5 p.m. PT on May 2

Editors' Recommendations

Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
All Resident Evil 4 remake Wayshrines and how to open them
An open wayshrine with a bracelet inside.

In the opening chapters of the Resident Evil 4 remake, you will come across strange shrines erected by a cult. These can be interacted with, but prompt you to use an item. Unfortunately, you won't even have the chance to open the first couple you find since the item required to open them can't be picked up until a bit later -- and only if you know where to search for it. But it's ro say that the treasures you get from them make it worth your time to backtrack and grab all the goodies inside. Here's how you can open all the Wayshrines in the Resident Evil 4 remake, and what each one holds inside.
How to get the Wayshrine Key

Surprise surprise, but Wayshrines can only be opened once you grab the Wayshrine Key. It will feel like a long time, but you can't even access the key until you reach Chapter 4 and beat Del Lago. Once you can explore the lake, head south to the Mural Cave. Deep in the caves, you will find an ornate cabinet after solving the puzzle in the cave. You can get there by going down the path from the southern dock and through the section with the two large stone hands. Thankfully, unlike Small Keys, the Wayshrine Key is reusable and can open every Wayshrine in the game.
How to 0pen Wayshrines

Read more
Is Resident Evil 4’s Leon S. Kennedy Italian? An investigation
resident Evil 4's Leon S Kennedy has a moustache,

Whenever a new Resident Evil game comes out -- remake or otherwise -- I always like to go down a lore rabbit hole. The Resident Evil series has a wildly vast narrative that isn’t just contained in its main installments. Obscure spinoffs, CGI movies, bonus features bundled with games … there's so much rich history to dig into, and die-hard series fans have thoroughly cataloged every piece of it through exhaustively detailed fan wikis.

After I finished Capcom’s excellent Resident Evil 4 remake, I was curious to build out my knowledge of its hero, the iconic Leon S. Kennedy. I’d learned more about his backstory than I’d ever known, including how he was blackmailed into becoming a government agent in Wii spinoff Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. While there were a lot of fascinating surprises to be found, the very first line of Leon’s fan-maintained Resident Evil wiki page threw me for a loop.

Read more
How to solve the Castle Sword puzzle in Resident Evil 4 remake
Leon looking at murals of a knight.

The castle section of the Resident Evil 4 remake is one of the most diabolical. Aside from being visually distinct from the previous village area, this location is full of tougher enemies and deadlier traps. Once you've managed to escape from the dungeons and up into the castle proper, you will be blocked by a gate beside some images of a knight in different situations. Something is off about all of them, and one part missing entirely. This is the sword puzzle, but it isn't as straightforward as you might assume looking at it. Here's how to solve the Sword Puzzle and make your way into the Audience Chamber in Resident Evil 4.
How to solve the Castle Sword puzzle

The first thing you'll notice about this puzzle is that there are four murals of the knight, but only three swords to pick up in this room. The last sword is behind another locked gate, but this one you can open. The gate has three animals on it, an eagle, deer, and snake, which correspond to three different plates. As each one is activated, the symbols on the gate will light up to show you're on the right track. The deer can be activated by pulling the chain beside the gate, while the second two are on the other side of the gate to the right and need to be shot.

Read more