While Capcom has been quiet about its in-development expansion for Resident Evil Requiem, screenwriter Haris Orkin has now confirmed that its story will revolve around Umbrella Corporation co-founder Oswell E. Spencer in some way. In an interview with Distance NERDing at Meadowlark Comic Con, Orkin confirmed that he has been working on the DLC, and that he is “working hand-in-hand” with Capcom.
Interestingly, shortly after confirming that the DLC would further expand on the story of Oswell Spencer, Orkin also admitted that he probably shouldn’t have revealed this information yet. As for Spencer, the character is slated to have a story arc that explains more of his decisions from the events of Resident Evil Requiem in the expansion.
“We have an arc for Spencer in Requiem. Where you understand [that approach] more. And then in the DLC you will understand it even further. I probably shouldn’t say that, but yeah.”
Orkin also spoke about the decision to depict Grace Ashcroft – one of the two protagonists of Resident Evil Requiem – as a neurodivergent character, confirming that she was intentionally written to be “on the spectrum.” He went on to note that the character is defined by her ability to find and analyze clues, while also lacking the ability to deal with people. “She’s an analyst. She’s really an expert at figuring out clues, but she’s not great at dealing with people. It was all part of creating that character.”
Director Koshi Nakanishi had confirmed that work had begun on an expansion for Resident Evil Requiem all the way back in March. At the time, he went through several images depicting various jokes related to the franchise before confirming that the expansion would “delve deeper into the world of Requiem.” However, since “it will take some time”, Capcom hasn’t yet committed to a solid release date for it.
A report from July indicated that Capcom is seemingly going to release Resident Evil Veronica before the expansion for Requiem. This extended timeline comes down to the fact that the expansion is expected to be a large one, with known leaker AestheticGamer drawing comparisons with the Shadow of Rose DLC for Resident Evil Village.
“Capcom is investing into doing more lengthy story DLC in the future of RE, of the length & ambition as Separate Ways/Shadow of Rose, for both Requiem & future RE titles. There are a few reasons for this. I also keep hearing that Resident Evil Requiem‘s DLC is going to release after Veronica remake releases.”
The larger scope of the expansion also hints at Capcom’s new approach to tackling side games for the Resident Evil franchise. While the company has traditionally released titles like Revelations, Chronicles, and Survivor, in the modern era with its in-house RE Engine, Capcom seemingly wants to do similar kinds of stories through expansions for its major releases. Through this, the company also plans to experiment with its storytelling and gameplay.
Resident Evil Requiem is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more, check out our review. Capcom has also confirmed that the survival horror title has surpassed 8 million sales as of July.
