Capcom just circled a date on the calendar for its next big survival horror push—and it includes Nintendo’s next hardware. During today’s Nintendo Direct, the publisher confirmed that Resident Evil Requiem will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27, 2026. It won’t be arriving alone: ports of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition and Resident Evil Village Gold Edition will land on the same day. Requiem also releases day-and-date on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, giving the series full platform parity out of the gate.
A new lead with old scars
Requiem introduces a fresh protagonist with a heavy tie to the series’ past. You play as FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, who’s digging into a string of suspicious deaths—including the case that haunts her most, the death of her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, a character veteran fans will remember from the PS2-era Outbreak titles. The timeline sits about 30 years after the Raccoon City catastrophe, a choice that lets Capcom pull on legacy threads without being trapped by them.
The reveal trailer sets the tone fast. Grace arrives at the Wrenwood Hotel, a towering, ornate relic that looks built for nightmares—tight corridors, locked suites, and a staff with too many secrets. Quick cuts tease new antagonists, improvised weapons, and layered spaces that scream “search me twice.” The footage also nods hard at the past: we see the ruined outskirts of Raccoon City and a glimpse of the R.P.D. station, now a ghost of itself, which hints at flashbacks, playable memories, or a case file that pulls Grace back into the city that defined the franchise’s lore.
Story-wise, Capcom is framing this as a personal investigation that spirals into something bigger and uglier. Expect the balancing act the series is known for—slow-burn tension, resource management that matters, and puzzle-box rooms that force you to plan your next three moves. The hook is psychological as much as biological: Grace is not a super-soldier, she’s an analyst who’s trained to connect dots, which could shift how players gather clues, piece together narratives, and unlock new paths.
Capcom didn’t share deep mechanics, but the footage showed a mix of close-quarters threats, environmental traps, and a focus on traversal inside the hotel. There are peeks at modular weapon upgrades and quick menu interactions that look built for fast decisions rather than loadout tinkering. If you’ve played the recent remakes or Village, the RE Engine’s look—skin-crawling textures, moody lighting, precise animation—comes through here too.
What this means for Switch 2 and the series
The bigger story is Capcom’s level of support for Nintendo’s next console. On the current Switch, Resident Evil 7 and Village showed up as cloud versions in many regions. Now, the Switch 2 is getting native ports of both Gold Editions on day one alongside a brand-new mainline entry. That’s a strong signal about Nintendo’s upgraded hardware and Capcom’s confidence in the install base it expects to see early on.
Gold Editions usually mean all content included. For Resident Evil 7, that covers the main campaign plus add-ons like Banned Footage Vol. 1 and 2, End of Zoe, and the Not a Hero chapter. For Village, the Winters’ Expansion is the headline, adding Shadows of Rose, third-person mode for the base game, and extra Mercenaries content. Portable access to those complete packages, if they run natively, could make the Switch 2 versions the most flexible way to play.
No hard tech specs or performance promises came with today’s reveal. Capcom didn’t talk resolution or frame rate, and it avoided feature checklists like ray tracing or haptic tricks. The details fans will watch for: 60 fps targets, dynamic resolution on the handheld screen, upscaling approaches on the dock, and whether gyro aiming or enhanced rumble show up as optional toggles. Physical editions, file sizes, and pre-load timing are also still under wraps.
The engine piece is worth calling out. Capcom’s RE Engine has quietly become one of the most adaptable toolsets in AAA development, powering everything from first-person horror to fighting games. It already scaled down to the current Switch for Monster Hunter Rise, which ran natively and looked strong on modest hardware. That track record makes a native Switch 2 trio—Requiem, RE7, and Village—feel plausible without massive compromises.
For longtime fans, the lore choices here matter. Bringing back Alyssa Ashcroft through Grace’s perspective bridges the mainline series and the Outbreak spin-offs, which carved out a cult following for their grounded, street-level take on horror. Revisiting the R.P.D. and Raccoon City’s remains three decades later sets up interesting questions: who controls what’s left of those sites, what experiments continued in the shadows, and how much of Umbrella’s mess ever truly died?
The Wrenwood Hotel looks like the kind of contained, character-driven setting Resident Evil thrives on. Hotels give designers a lot to play with—staff-only spaces, hidden service corridors, maintenance shafts, basements no guest should see. If Capcom leans into verticality and layered backtracking, the hotel could do for Requiem what the Baker house did for RE7: make the location itself a villain.
Today’s Nintendo Direct also carried a bigger message from Nintendo: third-party heavy hitters are showing up early around the Switch 2 window. With Super Mario Bros.’ 40th anniversary celebrations setting the mood, Capcom’s triple announcement slotted in as proof that the next-gen Switch won’t just rely on Nintendo’s in-house hits. Horror on day one is a statement—it tells players this platform aims to cover the full range, from family-friendly to pitch-black.
There are still plenty of blanks to fill. Capcom didn’t mention cross-progression or cross-saves between platforms, co-op modes (none were shown), or any amiibo tie-ins. Accessibility options weren’t detailed either, though recent Capcom releases have shipped with broader choice sets for subtitles, control remapping, and difficulty tuning. Expect a slower drip of info: gameplay deep dives, platform-specific showcases, and hands-on previews closer to launch.
If you’re planning your calendar, here’s the snapshot:
- Release date: February 27, 2026
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam)
- Also on Switch 2 that day: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition and Resident Evil Village Gold Edition
- Story lead: FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, tied to Outbreak’s Alyssa Ashcroft
- Key locations teased: Wrenwood Hotel, ruins of Raccoon City, R.P.D. station
For now, the pitch is simple: a new protagonist, a haunted hotel with history, and a return to the city that won’t stay buried—arriving on Nintendo’s next machine the same day as the rest. That’s a solid start for Capcom’s next era of survival horror.
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