Summary
After a year of waiting, Capcom waltzed on the Summer Game Fest stage, said it had no news, and told everyone to wait some more. With nothing but a conveyor belt of confusing and contradictoryResident Evil 9rumours for months on end, it was sorely disappointing.
We even wrote an entire news article about just how disappointing it was. You’ll have noticed that it got deleted, because not even an hour later, the showcase was capped off with a surprise Resident Evil 9 reveal, introducing us to its protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. You jabaited us, Capcom, but that was one helluva trailer.
Oh, and more importantly, the game will release on July 22, 2025.
Who Is Grace Ashcroft?
As pointed out byDusk Golem, that name might seem familiar: she’s a pretty deep-cut choice for the lead role.
For the ten of you who played Resident Evil Outbreak (okay, it was more like 1.45 million), she’s the daughter of investigative reporter Alyssa Ashcroft, who was one of the few survivors to escape Raccoon City. In the wake of its destruction (read: the US government dropping a nuke to stop the zombie outbreak), she worked tirelessly to expose Umbrella Corporation’s involvement and development of bioweapons.
We finally get to see the aftermath of those first few games here, with the iconic metropolis reduced to nothing more than a crater. It looks like Grace and the franchise are finally headed home. But it wouldn’t be home without some familiar faces, one of whom might be joining Requiem as its second protagonist.
Leon Kennedy Is Reportedly Returning
While we’ve had no information about Resident Evil 9 up until now from Capcom, we’ve had plenty from Dusk Golem.
He said that it would be revealed in 2025 before launching the next year. He claimed that Capcom would drop the numbering in favour of subtitles, just like with Village.He said that it would tie the knot on the story first started way back in 1996. And he also alleged that it would lean more into horror than action. Where’s everyone going? Bingo? A lot of that was just proven right.
So, he’s probably right about the game having two protagonists, the second being Leon Kennedy. Given that the trailer focuses on the ruins of the Racoon City Police Station, where much of Resident Evil 2 takes place, it’s hard to imagine anyone else joining Grace Ashcroft on her slightly morbid vacation. Especially since Leon is a government agent, and Ashcroft works for the FBI.
According to Dusk Golem, Capcom views this as the end of the Leon ‘trilogy’ (ignoring RE6), so it only makes sense that he’d go back to where it all began. Dusk Golem also claimed that the original version of Resident Evil 9 was an open-world multiplayer game, allegedly featuring Jill Valentine as the second protagonist, not Ashcroft. It’s hard to imagine tying the knot on the franchise without her and Chris Redfield. But right now, it’s unclear where she fits in. Luckily, we’ll find out next year.
