Resident Evil Requiem Producer Explains Inclusion of Grace Ashcroft

Grace Ashcroft serves as the second main protagonist because a game featuring only Leon Kennedy would not have been able to scare players.

Resident Evil Requiem producer Masachika Kawata discussed the game’s development in a special Biohazard magazine issue dedicated to the series’ 30th anniversary. According to him, Leon was one of the first confirmed protagonists, but the team decided to add a new character.

Leon was also the first character approved for the lead role. However, we decided that with just Leon, who handles combat tasks too well, “the horrors would no longer work,” so we decided to introduce Grace as a new character.

Kawata also explained why Leon was shown only late in the marketing campaign. The developers wanted to preserve the mystery surrounding the horror elements, focusing more on Grace in the early trailers.

Initially, director Koshi Nakanishi considered a multiplayer format for the game. The team abandoned this idea because it did not match fans’ expectations and returned to developing the concept from scratch.

Producer explained why Grace Ashcroft was added to Resident Evil Requiem — Image source: Steam

Resident Evil Requiem was released on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Sales of the game have exceeded 8 million copies.

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