About

Resident Evil Requiem, also known as Resident Evil 9 or RE9, is an upcoming survival horror video game and the ninth main installment in the Resident Evil franchise, which follows Resident Evil Village. The game seemingly introduces a new protagonist, FBI technical analyst Grace Ashcroft, who is investigating a series of unusual deaths. The game is scheduled for release in February 2026.

History

On June 7th, 2025, at Summer Game Fest 2025, Japanese video game developer and publisher Capcom announced survival horror video game Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth main installment in the Resident Evil video game franchise.^[1] At the show, the reveal trailer for the game premiered. The trailer garnered over 3.3 million views on X^[2] and over 2 million views on YouTube^[3] in two days (shown below).

Requiem for the dead. Nightmare for the living.#ResidentEvilRequiem arrives on February 27, 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. pic.twitter.com/SvLODkaPTj

— Resident Evil (@RE_Games) June 6, 2025

The game is rumored to feature the two protagonists: Leon Kennedy, the protagonist of several previous Resident Evil installments, and Grace Ashcroft, an FBI technical analyst and the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak character Alyssa Ashcroft, who appears in the reveal trailer for the game.^[4]

Online Reactions

Announcement

The announcement of the game in early June 2025 was followed by viral reactions on social media, with discussions focusing on the rumored protagonist duo.

On X, numerous users shared fan art and cosplay of Grace Ashcroft. For example, on June 8th, artist and X user @ziriii_zireael posted an artwork that received over 1,200 reposts and 9,000 likes on X^[5] in one day (shown below).

The early June 2025 period of virality was also accompanied by a spike in the popularity of Resident Evil memes.

For example, on June 7th, 2025, X^[6] user @DocStrangelove2 made a Chrispost meme that gained over 870 reposts and 13,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References