This morning, Japanese developer and publisher CAPCOM surprisingly released a free Resident Evil Requiem demo on all platforms: PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The demo allows players to play "part of the game’s early stages", according to CAPCOM. However, unlike recent demos for other games, the save data won't carry over to the full game for those users who choose to purchase it afterward. This means they'll have to retread those parts of the game they have already gone through in the Resident Evil Requiem demo.
Resident Evil fans were actually used to getting demos before launch. Resident Evil 2 Remake's 1-Shot Demo launched on January 11, 2019, exactly two weeks before the full game. Players had a strict 30-minute limit and could play it only once. It was available until January 31, 2019; then, the R.P.D. Demo was released later, on December 12, 2019, and is still available with no time limit.
For Resident Evil Village, Capcom ran a multi-stage demo rollout: on April 17, they released a PlayStation-exclusive Village area demo (30 min limit, 8-hour window); a week later, they launched the PlayStation-exclusive Castle area demo (30 min limit, 8-hour window); between May 1 and 9, all platforms got the demo with both areas (1 hour limit, extended to a full week after initially being 24 hours) The full game launched May 7, 2021, meaning the first demo arrived about three weeks before launch. A permanent demo landed with the Gold Edition in October 2022. For Resident Evil 4 Remake, the Chainsaw Demo launched on March 9, 2023, exactly 15 days before the full game, covering Leon's arrival at the village. It was permanently available from that point onward.
With Resident Evil Requiem, CAPCOM waited three full months before releasing the demo. Prior to launch, producer Masato Kumazawa stated that the studio wanted to focus on the full game. It is likely that an underwhelming commercial performance would have led CAPCOM to release a demo much sooner, but the game broke series records and sold over six million units as of March 16. CAPCOM must have figured out that by now, hardcore fans have all purchased the game, and a demo can entice others to buy it.
As a reminder, CAPCOM is still working on a DLC story expansion. Meanwhile, they have released the 'LEO N MUST DIE FOREVER' bonus mode.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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