Resident Evil: Requiem Developers Are Still Being Coy About Leon Kennedy

When I entered my interview with Resident Evil: Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazama, I had a large list of questions about a character who, officially, appears to be absent: Leon Kennedy.

I prepared these questions because the day before my interview, Capcom held its Capcom Online Program event coinciding with Tokyo Game Show. For eager Resident Evil fans, including me and many of my colleagues, it seemed clear that we were finally going to receive a new trailer confirming Leon's official presence in the game, whether as a playable character or otherwise.

But that is not what happened. We did see a new trailer, but no Leon. And a preview build available at TGS, which I experienced after my interview, also lacked any mention of Leon.

When I brought up the oddity of my expectations and the resulting absence of Leon Kennedy to Nakanishi and Kumazawa, they just laughed.

"We will consider this feedback," Kumazawa said.

Fan demand for Leon has been ongoing for months now, since the game's first trailer appeared to include several hints about at least a possible appearance by Leon. However, rumors have grown, with some suggesting that Leon might appear in the game as a secondary playable character alongside new character Grace Ashcroft. Nakanishi and Kumazawa have tried to dismiss these rumors, stating that Kennedy does not fit Requiem's less action-oriented style, but the excitement has continued regardless, and the two are not outright saying we won't get to play as him at all, even for a short time.

Given this ongoing conversation, I asked the pair if they were concerned that all the talk about Leon was overshadowing their effort to position Grace as the game's main character. But they aren't worried. "We're always pleased when people are interested in the game enough to speculate so much," Kumazawa said.

If the pair are so certain that Grace is the new face of this Resident Evil story, could Requiem serve as a sort of transfer of responsibility between old and new Resident Evil? Not exactly, says Kumazawa.

"Although we don't have definite plans for future entries in the series, I still think calling it a passing of the torch is perhaps too much, because we're not going to completely erase the series' history and lore. However, I also don't want to keep relying on existing characters for every new game, which was part of the reason we introduced Grace."

We recently previewed Resident Evil: Requiem, and you can read our impressions of what we've seen so far right here. You can also check out the rest of my conversation with Nakanishi and Kumazawa, including how Requiem came to the Nintendo Switch 2. We have also previously spoken to the pair about a number of other topics, such as Raccoon City's return and the game's new monster design.