2 Players fighting a B.O.W.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (known in Japan as Biohazard Apocalypse) also known as RE9: Apocalypse, was a cancelled multiplayer-focused title in the Resident Evil series that was originally planned as Resident Evil 9 during early development. The project was reportedly in development at Capcom before eventually being cancelled and replaced with a different direction for the ninth mainline instalment.
Gameplay
Note the similar hairstyle to Helena Harper, Cold Drinks in the background
Developer comments and limited internal footage showed that the game had reached a playable alpha/early slice stage, with several cooperative gameplay systems already functional. Unlike most mainline entries in the series, Apocalypse focused heavily on online cooperative and multiplayer gameplay.[1][2][3][4]
Development
The first public mention of Apocalypse was following the data-breach CAPCOM faced in 2020, where the game was listed for a "Q3 FY23" release.[5]
"You might have heard some of the rumours, things like an online Resident Evil or an open world Resident Evil, which we spent some time experimenting with. But in the end, although we had some interesting concepts, we realised that it wasn’t what fans wanted to see or play. So we went back to the drawing board and created what led to Resident Evil Requiem." — Koshi Nakanishi[1][3] |
Apocalypse, was conceived of as having open-world exploration and online accessibility. While a working prototype was developed, it was ultimately abandoned. As had occurred early in Biohazard's development, its leads came to the conclusion multiplayer should not be a core Resident Evil feature and the online mechanics were scrapped in favour of a more orthodox single-player offline experience (Requiem), as the development team felt that "it wasn't what the fans wanted".[1][3][2][4]
The original release date was teased in RE8 - Village
It’s possible many of these experiments contributed to the foundation of games like RE: Verse, which flopped badly but have likely reused the base netcode.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Resident Evil Requiem - Creators' Message - Capcom Spotlight June 2025 (8 Min Version) (Japanese). YouTube. Retrieved on 2025-06-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Andy Robinson (27-06-2025). Capcom reveals Resident Evil Requiem started as an online game, ‘but we realised fans didn’t want it’. Video Game Chronicles. Retrieved on 20-09-2025. “Speaking in an extended developer diary video available to members of Capcom’s website, Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi shared a brief look at the early online version of Resident Evil 9 and said it was ultimately abandoned because he realised it wasn’t what fans wanted.”
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Early ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Concept Was an Online Game (English). Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved on 2025-07-08.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Resident Evil Requiem Interview – Putting The Horror In Survival Horror", Press Start. Retrieved on 2025-11-17.
- ↑ Massive Capcom Leaks Reveal Dragon's Dogma 2, Street Fighter 6, and Potentially More. “IGN has independently verified some of the games are in development.”
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