The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), where game companies would show off their upcoming titles, is a thing of the past, but taking its place are different shows, with the big event being Summer Game Fest.
Friday’s showcase featured some of the big and small games coming later this year and next year, across consoles, gaming laptops, and PCs—but one game stole the show: Resident Evil Requiem, or as it can also be referred to, Resident Evil 9.
The newest addition to Capcom’s franchise, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next March, takes the franchise back to Raccoon City and brings back a lesser-known name from the game’s history, as seen in the first trailer that was shown at Summer Game Fest.
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Who is Grace Ashcroft?
Featured prominently in the trailer is a character named Grace Ashcroft. Grace works at the FBI and is being ordered to investigate a crime scene at the Wrenwood Hotel, which was also the place where her mom, Alyssa, was murdered.
The name Alyssa Ashcroft was one that only the most dedicated Resident Evil fans would recognize. She was one of the survivors in Resident Evil: Outbreak, which was an online-only game released in 2004 for the PS2 that had players take control of eight survivors who had to escape Raccoon City before it was destroyed. Alyssa was a newspaper reporter who canonically survived the zombie outbreak and went on to write a story about the events that happened in the city, as well as a story years later about missing people in Dulvey Parish, Louisiana, which was referenced in Resident Evil 7.
It doesn’t say where the Wrenwood Hotel is located, but in the trailer, scenes of a destroyed Raccoon City were shown. This could mean that players will head back to the place where the outbreak started. The Resident Evil franchise’s first three games dealt with the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City, but none of the main entries in the series have ever gone back to where it all started.
Will any other popular Resident Evil characters show up?
The last two mainline Resident Evil games—Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village—starred a brand-new protagonist, Ethan Winters. He had little ties with the events of the earlier games, but those two games did bring back one of the primary characters of the franchise, Chris Redfield.
There are rumors that another major character from the series will return in Resident Evil Requiem: Leon Kennedy. Leon made his debut in Resident Evil 2 as a rookie cop whose first day on the job was dealing with a zombie outbreak. In Resident Evil 4, Leon was sent on a mission to save the President’s daughter from a religious cult located in Spain. He then showed up again in Resident Evil 6, which brought back a whole cast of characters from the franchise who worked together to take down bioterrorists.
While Leon didn’t make an appearance in the trailer, he still could show up. And as is the case with any adventure featuring Leon, his romantic interest and rival, Ada Wong, could also make an appearance.
Resident Evil Requiem will be released on Feb. 27, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. There is currently no info on whether the new Resident Evil game will come to the Switch 2.
