The heroes and villains of the Resident Evil franchise will square off in mortal combat in Resident Evil Re:Verse, a new multiplayer deathmatch game, Capcom announced Thursday during its Resident Evil Showcase presentation.
Resident Evil Re:Verse will be released alongside Resident Evil Village in May, and will be free to owners of that game. Players will battle each other in third-person as Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Leon S. Kenney, Nemesis, Hunk, Chris Redfield, Ada Wong, and Jack Baker, in a combat arena that appears to be based on the Raccoon City Police Department from 2018’s Resident Evil 2 remake.
In addition to human-controlled opponents, it appears Re:Verse will also throw AI-controlled monsters like the Hunter Gamma from Resident Evil 3 and Molded from Resident Evil 7 at players. A brief gameplay teaser shows that Re:Verse will use stylized, cel-shaded graphics to differentiate itself from the more photorealistic Resident Evil games of the past few years.
Capcom producer Tsuyoshi Kanda said that Re:Verse is one of the ways the company is celebrating the Resident Evil franchise’s 25th anniversary. A closed beta test for the multiplayer game is planned to kick off on Jan. 28 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players. Applications are currently open for that beta.
The Resident Evil franchise has been fodder for a variety of multiplayer games over the years, which have ranged from beloved (Resident Evil Outbreak) to widely panned (Umbrella Corps). Capcom attempted a new type of Resident Evil multiplayer with last year’s Resident Evil: Resistance, a cooperative/competitive online game that shipped with the Resident Evil 3 remake.
Resident Evil Village will be released worldwide on May 7, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
