Capcom has revealed that it will likely take the Resident Evil franchise back to its Survival Horror-based roots for the inevitable Resident Evil 7.
The publisher admitted to MCV that reception to last year’s Resident Evil 6 was mixed, and fans and critics alike responded better to the more horror-oriented Resident Evil: Revelations.
“We have obviously seen the consumer response and the PR response. There was some great positives out of that, but it was a mixed bag, as we saw from the review scores. We have got to take that on-board, we can’t ignore that, and we have to take that onto the next game when we make the next Resident Evil,” said Capcom’s Michael Pattison.
“With Resident Evil 6 specifically, we probably put too much content in there, there were comments from consumers that said it felt bloated. The Leon missions went down very well, and because we did Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS, there was a cry out for us to focus our attention on survival horror, rather than be too many things to all people. You’ll find where we go next will likely be more targeted at our core fanbase.
Furthermore, despite the ubiquity of zombie-apocalypse games in today’s market, Pattison feels there is still plenty of leg room for our decomposing friends.
“A lot is said about the saturation of this zombie, post-apocalyptic survival horror. But it is still alive and well. The Last of Us shows a good direction of what the consumers want. Tomb Raider as well, we spoke to R&D and they looked at that and they enjoyed that experience. I think that proves there is still a strong market for that sort of content.”
The next chapter in the Resident Evil franchise has yet to be announced, and it remains unknown whether it will hit current and/or next-generation systems.
What direction do you think Resident Evil 7 should take? Are you happy with the current balance of action and horror, or do you feel it should go back to its Survival Horror roots? Sound off in the comments section below.