Resident Evil Requiem, like prior games in the Resident Evil series, is going to be a very violent and gory game, complete with decapitations, bodies been torn apart, and plenty of viscera. Previously, certain games in the Resident Evil series have received cuts for the Japanese market, or received two different versions. But for Requiem, the development team at Capcom wanted to make sure that everyone was playing the same version, while also pushing the game’s gore to the limits.
In a media briefing for Japanese press, which was attended and translated by Automaton, director Koshi Nakanishi spoke to the level of gore in the upcoming game, and the necessity of hitting a certain level of violence to make the experience engaging.
“Since the Resident Evil 4 remake, we’ve gone with releasing a CERO Z version only, so this time we’re basically following that same approach,” Nakanishi says. CERO Z is the highest age rating a game can receive in Japan and still be released commercially.
Resident Evil Village, Automaton points out, released in two iterations, and all versions of the game in Japan removed decapitations. Japan age guidelines have typically been strict around heads being destroyed, but it seems that Resident Evil Requiem will be released in the country–and around the world–with decapitations intact.
“I’d say we’re actually pushing ourselves more than people might expect,” Nakanishi continued. “That said, it’s not that we want to make things gruesome for the sake of it, but when depicting shocking scenes or tense battles, a certain level of that kind of expression is necessary. We also want players to fully experience the direction and presentation without holding anything back.”
Resident Evil Requiem is releasing February 27, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. It will feature zombies with more personality than previous games in the series, and it will, for the first time, let Leon turn the series’ infamous chainsaws back on the enemy.
For more information and impressions, check out GameSpot’s hands-on preview of the game,