Though enthusiasm for Resident Evil 3’s remake seems universal, there’s one question many feel necessitates an answer. Since Resident Evil 2 launched earlier this year, how is Capcom launching a remake for RE3 so soon? Apparently, the answer is simple. Both remakes were developed side by side. Even more interesting? Reportedly, the two were initially planned to launch together in a single package.
According to Kinda Funny’s Imran Khan, trouble with development on RE3 held the projects back. Thus, fans received RE2’s celebrated remake in January 2019. Meanwhile, RE3’s release date shifted to early 2020. To justify the seemingly quick turn around on the RE3 production, and give players more bang for their buck, Capcom decided to package in Resident Evil Resistance, formerly Project Resistance, as a bonus multiplayer offering.
Khan explained as much during Kinda Funny’s State of Play post show. Reportedly, sources close to Capcom told him:
…from what I understand, [RE3] and Resident Evil 2 were originally a part of one package, but it was too much work. The games were getting delayed and Resident Evil 2 was supposed to be released a year earlier than it did. So they split them up. That’s why [RE3’s remake] is coming so quickly… I think this has been worked on for three years. It was part of that initial package originally, that’s why they’re combining it with Project Resistance, [which was] initially another game that Capcom picked up and put the Resident Evil license on. They were like, ‘well, if we can justify [RE3] coming so soon…’ So they’re putting it together.
This certainly explains a lot, if true. A look at the trailer for Resident Evil 3 suggests plenty has been added to what the original experience had on offer. This level of detail and polish definitely seems to have required a pretty lengthy development cycle.
The following is the video featuring the above discussion. Khan makes note of what he’s heard from Capcom sources at around the 25:00 mark:
Resident Evil 3 will come to the PS4, PC, and Xbox One next spring on April 3, 2020.
[Source: Kinda Funny Games]
