With Resident Evil 3 currently making a massive splash with both fans of the series and newcomers alike, it seems many are wondering where the iconic survival horror franchise will go next. Some have leaned towards new remakes, with Capcom itself hinting at more reimaginings in a recent survey, while others seem to prefer the idea of the series returning to its mainline entries and delivering something entirely fresh.
Regardless of where the series goes next, a major discussion that’s been spreading around the Resident Evil community is the idea of the franchise becoming annual. With Resident Evil 2 hitting shelves last year, Resident Evil 3 launching last month, and the rumored release of Resident Evil 8 allegedly coming in 2021, it seems a yearly release schedule might be the plan Capcom is currently pursuing, yet many are rightfully wondering whether that’s the best move for the series.
Looking at the yearly Call of Duty games, 2K sports titles, and the original release schedule for Assassin’s Creed, it’s clear releasing a new title in a franchise once a year has been both a smart and disastrous decision for several major properties. After all, while the relentless release cycle of Assassin’s Creed made it into a household name, it also fatigued the franchise to the point where Ubisoft had to take a break and re-evaluate what made the series special.
Resident Evil 3 - 2020
So, would this strategy best fit Resident Evil? In truth, there are two glaring ways to look at this potential distribution schedule, and in a lot of ways, Resident Evil 3 is the best example of why both have merit.
The first is that a yearly Resident Evil release simply means more of the franchise, which is far from a bad thing. It may seem obvious, but with the Resident Evil currently enjoying such a monumental resurgence in the public eye, it can’t help but feel like a fantastic idea to capitalize on that success and give fans what they’ve wanted from the franchise since it down spiraled in the late 2000s.
It’s for this reason that the announcement and subsequent release of Resident Evil 3 has gone down so well with audiences. While they’re usually accustomed to waiting years to see a new game in the Resident Evil franchise, they’re finally getting the things they’ve been asking after for years in an incredibly short period of time. Sure, in Resident Evil 3’s case, it’s a relatively short experience, but it’s exciting to imagine so much content directed at diehard fans of the series releasing so frequently.
Resident Evil 8 - 2021
There’s also the fact that - unlike the repetitive nature of Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed - what makes Resident Evil so diverse as a franchise is that it can be reimagined in a number of different formats. While the remakes have begun to play around with a modernization of Resident Evil 4’s over the shoulder combat, the rumored Resident Evil 8 will supposedly return to the first-person view that was introduced in the 7th game. Perhaps if Capcom were to change the types of experiences Resident Evil fans were enjoying on a yearly basis, it could avoid fatigue and become a consistently exciting and surprising staple of the gaming calendar.
What’s more, an annual release schedule isn’t completely alien to the series. Following the release of the original Resident Evil 2 in 1998, there was a yearly addition to the franchise in some form up until the release of Resident Evil 4 in 2005. Better yet, many of the titles released in that period are known as some of the most iconic the series has ever produced, including Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and the Resident Evil remake in 2002.
However, in the eyes of many, quantity doesn’t always equate to quality. While many would no doubt love an expansive, twelve-hour Resident Evil release coming at them on a yearly basis, the fact of the matter is that the hurried schedule means that could be an unrealistic expectation. Resident Evil 2 was praised for its incredible attention to detail, its loving reworking of the game’s mechanics, and its incredible pacing. As fans came to see with titles like Assassin’s Creed Unity and WWE 2K20, a faster release schedule usually leads to cut corners, which likely means a lot of these finer details could be rushed to hit deadlines.
Resident Evil Remakes, Release, New Content, and The Future
Sadly, this was the source of a lot of criticism levied towards Resident Evil 3. The game was much shorter, with critics seemingly agreeing that it felt rushed to strike while the iron was hot, while many agreed that the game’s core focus, Nemesis, wasn’t utilized nearly enough. While the game still managed to work on a lot of fronts, it’s clear that this wasn’t exactly the incredibly considered and passionately remade experience that Resident Evil 2 was, especially as major parts of the original experience were cut entirely.
Although that might just have been down to Nemesis already being a shorter game that Resident Evil 2, it begs the question of whether newer titles in the series will suffer the same fate if released so quickly. What Resident Evil needs right now are significant experiences that feel fully-fledged, considered, and full of finely crafted detail. Rushing to release as many games as possible in the shortest period of time feels like the complete antithesis of that sentiment, and while players no doubt want more of the franchise, they’ll be happy to wait if the experiences that come out the other side are of the same quality of Resident Evil 2.
While an annual release schedule does make sense in a lot of ways, it appears to be something of a double-edged sword when considering what it could mean for the franchise. Naturally, fans are already crying out for Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica to be remade, while others want Resident Evil 8 sooner rather than later. However, while now feels like the time for Capcom to pull the trigger on bringing all these projects to life, they also have to spend a great deal of time making each into a fully-fledged new release. Regardless of whether they launch games on an annual basis or perhaps take some time off to revaluate following Resident Evil 8, there’s no denying that the Resident Evil franchise is bound to have an interesting next few years.
Resident Evil 3 is out now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
