Capcom has now confirmed that Resident Evil Requiem will feature classic characters linked to the Raccoon City incident, without revealing exactly who.
Speculation is rife that floppy-haired fan favorite Leon S. Kennedy will return in Requiem, revisiting the city where he spent his memorable first day as a rookie cop in Resident Evil 2.
However, Capcom has so far declined to discuss whether fans will reconnect with any familiar faces in Requiem, opting instead to focus its marketing efforts on recent heroine Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak’s Alyssa Ashcroft.
Now in an interview for Well playedproducer Masato Kumazawa finally confirmed that “yes, several characters from previous series will appear in the series.”
It’s worth noting that Kumazawa is answering a question here that specifically asked whether other Outbreak characters, as well as Alyssa, will appear in Requiem. But Kumazawa then mentions that characters “involved in the Raccoon City incident” will generally appear. Here is the full quote:
“I would say yes, there will be some characters from previous series, but you shouldn’t exaggerate your expectations and don’t make a fuss about it,” Kumazawa teased. “We can’t promise you anything, but all I can say is that the game will feature characters involved in the Raccoon City incident.”
The debate over whether other characters – and Leon in particular – are in Requiem has dominated discussion of the game so far, although Capcom seems content to keep the speculation alive. By focusing on Grace Ashcroft in trailers and early gameplay previews, the publisher never explicitly stated that she was the only playable character.
In a separate interview posted online this week, Kumazawa called a specific fan photo of Leon wearing an eye patch “fake news” and suggested it was the work of artificial intelligence. But again, the developer stopped miniature of simply stating that Leon is not in the game – which, at this point, you’d think the developers would just state it to meet expectations.
Resident Evil Requiem will launch on February 27, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S. There is still plenty of time for further disclosures.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s news editor. You can contact Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
