Resident Evil 9: Why Isn’t Leon Returning? Because Capcom Wants You to Feel the Horror

Capcom held an event Thursday to show off some of its big games coming soon and titles it has already released. The star of the show was Resident Evil Requiem, where the developers of the game made it clear that Leon Kennedy will not return, although it’s hard to fully believe the word of Capcom since it’s been known to swerve expectations. 

Resident Evil: Requiem, also referred to as Resident Evil 9, will focus on Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst, allowing players to experience the horror from the character’s perspective, which the team referred to as “addictive fear.” The developers say Grace will overcome her fears as the game progresses. 

The game’s developers did mention fan-favorite character Leon, star of Resident Evil 2 and 4, who was rumored to be a playable character for the game, or perhaps a secondary character. They explained that Leon was initially intended to be the star of the game, but it was difficult to make a horror-focused game based around him, as no one wants to see the suave action hero jump at a loud noise. 

This focus on fear and a new protagonist seemingly matches up with Resident Evil 7, which raised the level of horror for the franchise. In that game, players controlled Ethan Winters, who was just a regular guy searching for his wife in the swamps of Louisiana. In that game, Resident Evil mainstay Chris Redfield made an appearance at the very end and played a bigger role in Resident Evil Village. 

The Resident Evil developers also confirmed a few more details about the game. RE9 will be an offline, single-player game, and the events of the game will take place in Raccoon City, 30 years after the missile strike in Resident Evil 2. Clearly, something evil has remained in the ashes.

Capcom did say there are more interviews with the development team regarding the game at its Resident Evil Portal site. However, once the website was mentioned during Capcom’s livestream, it immediately began to crash, likely due to the sheer number of people trying to visit it. 

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on Feb. 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

Watch this: I Played Resident Evil 9 Requiem at Summer Game Fest, and It’s Extremely Messed Up

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