Resident Evil 9 seems like an inevitability, and fans are wondering when it’ll get a release date. Capcom has done a great job keeping the momentum going with the series since Resident Evil 7 dropped, and the series has seen yearly releases since 2019. There are plenty of questions left unanswered, and we’ll take a look at what the story might be and which characters will make up the cast.
Resident Evil 9 release date rumors
The release date for Resident Evil Village was May 7, 2021. That means there were roughly four and a half years between it and Resident Evil 7, which launched on January 24, 2017. So, suppose development takes around the same time for the next game. In that case, we can assume we’ll see a Resident Evil 9 release date falling somewhere in 2025.
There haven’t been a lot of rumors about RE9, so we haven’t gotten any solid information about its launch. All we can do is make an educated guess based on the development of past titles. However, based on how successful Resident Evil has been lately, we’d be shocked if Capcom didn’t start development on RE9 almost immediately before or after the release of RE8.
What’s the story?
The plot of Resident Evil 9 is still shrouded in mystery. The fact that the game hasn’t been officially confirmed yet means we have no official info from which to glean story details. However, there are enough obvious loose ends at the conclusion of RE: Village for us to hypothesize about the plot.
At the end of RE8, Chris Redfield discovers that the BSAA is deploying Bio-Organic Weapons in its missions. One of the dead soldiers that he and Hound Wolf Squad find looks to be some variation of Tyrant, which means the BSAA is using technology that it was formed to stop. Chris decides to head for BSAA European HQ to find out what’s behind all this.
There’s also the question of the epilogue of Resident Evil: Village. It shows Rosemary as a young adult, but it doesn’t indicate how much time has passed. It’s possible that this is more than a decade later and is just showing that she survived, or it might be a hint about RE9. It seems like as a human/mold hybrid that she’s inherited higher than normal strength and other abilities which she doesn’t name. Perhaps RE9 will put a twist on things and put you in the shoes of a (half) BOW.
Alternatively, Resident Evil 9’s story may only involve the Winters family by proxy. Chris Redfield was there at the very beginning, and if RE9 is meant to cap a trilogy, it would be fitting for him to be one of the leading player characters. He was a secondary character in RE7 and RE8, so maybe he’ll finally get a chance to take center stage.
Cast of characters
Again, Resident Evil 9 hasn’t been officially confirmed. Still, we can make a few guesses as to which characters will make a return. Chris Redfield will almost assuredly be part of the cast, and Rosemary might be as well. A lot of the series mainstays have been absent since RE6. So, if RE9 involves a fight against the BSAA, we’ll likely at least hear from Claire, Leon, Barry, Rebecca, Sheva, Carlos, Sherry, Moira, the Outbreak survivors, or some of the other survivors of past RE games.
One character, in particular, we’re anticipating is Jill Valentine. Since the incident in RE5, she’s been MIA, and we’d love to see her team up with her old partner if he’s the focus of Resident Evil 9.
Resident Evil 9 leaks
There have been no RE9 leaks yet. It’s likely pretty early in the game’s development cycle, so we don’t expect to hear anything about it for a couple of years. Resident Evil: Village was part of a massive leak, but Capcom has likely hardened their network security. We doubt that we’ll see a hack on that scale again.
