Capcom Considering Possible ‘Resident Evil’ Reboot

After Resident Evil 6 failed to generate substantial sales for the folks at Capcom, the company is reportedly considering a reboot of the long-running franchise.

When the latest installment in the series was unleashed last year, it was met with mixed reviews and lukewarm sales. According to Kotaku, this hasn’t prompted Capcom to consider rebooting the game altogether.

Producer Masachika Kawata said the company is currently considering revamping the series in an effort to appeal to more gamers. If Capcom moves forward with its plans, then it would probably take place after Resident Evil: Revelations hits console later this year.

Kawata said the franchise would likely become more of an open world title should the reboot move forward. During his conversation with EuroGamer, the producer said changes would have to be made to Resident Evil for it to function in an open world setting.

He explained:

“If we did [go with an open world], we would want to preserve what ‘Resident Evil’ is and what makes it appealing to fans, while also making it accessible to new players. It would almost entail having a slight reboot to get the series into a place where it would work with open-world gameplay. That’s just a personal opinion. A lot of decisions would have to be taken before something like that is done to the series, but it is something that.”

According to Gamespot, Capcom will be closely watching how well Revelations is received before seriously addressing the possibility of a reboot. Although the game dropped for the Nintendo 3DS last year, the company intends to release it for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 this May.

Kawata said:

“Once we see Revelations released on consoles, we’ll be looking very carefully at how the title is received and what feedback we get,” he said. “I think we’ll get a lot of input from the fanbase and the media on what it means for Resident Evil, and what it could mean for the future of the series. We’ll definitely be looking at that as a signpost for where we need to be going next.”

Are you a fan of the Resident Evil series? Do you think it’s time for the franchise to be rebooted?