While speculation about Resident Evil Requiem has been running wild since Capcom officially unveiled the game with a trailer, director Koshi Nakanishi wants to assure fans of the franchise that Grace Ashcroft – who we saw in the reveal trailer for the game – will be the only protagonist in the upcoming horror title.
As caught by GamesRadar, YouTube channel Neon Slice has revealed that Nakanishi had sent a video message to members of Capcom’s Resident Evil Ambassador program where he referred to Grace as “the new main character” in Resident Evil Requiem.
As Neon Slice himself notes in the video (which you can check out below), however, Nakanishi’s insistence on Grace being the main character of the game has done nothing to quell speculation about Leon Kennedy also being one of the protagonists of the game.
Rumours from earlier this week, courtesy of noted leaker AestheticGamer, indicated that while Grace will serve as one of the main characters of Resident Evil Requiem, Resident Evil 2, 4 and 6 protagonist Leon Kennedy will also be present as a playable character in some form. AestheticGamer noted that Leon’s presence in the game will likely become clearer once Capcom gets deeper into the marketing cycle for Resident Evil Requiem.
“I’ll say this now before my trailer breakdown: Leon is the main character of RE9 Requiem,” wrote AestheticGamer on social media. “You won’t fully see him for a bit (though he is in the trailer), but in the final game you play far more as Leon than Grace. Become more obvious as marketing continues, into the final game.”
A series of leaks, which include some screenshots, also lend further credence to the idea that Grace Ashcroft won’t be the only playable character in the game. According to these leaks, a second playable character was hinted at. This character was said to be “familiar”, and had “a bunch of weapons”.
Grace Ashcroft, seen in the Resident Evil Requiem trailer, is the daughter of former Resident Evil protagonist Alyssa Ashcroft. Alyssa was one of the playable characters in co-op spin-off games Resident Evil: Outbreak and its sequel, Outbreak File #2. Both of these games take place around the time Raccoon City was bombed, with Alyssa being one of the survivors.
When it comes to what Alyssa has been up to in the meantime, her name has popped up in various titles, including Resident Evil 7 where a newspaper article with her byline could be spotted. When it comes to the timeline of Resident Evil Requiem, however, Alyssa is believed to have been murdered while investigating the Wrenwood Hotel, which will also be one of the locations that players will be able to explore in the upcoming game.
Resident Evil Requiem is in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and is slated for release on February 27, 2026. If the trailer is any indication, the game will take players back to notable locations from previous titles, including Resident Evil 2’s setting of the Raccoon City Police Department building. In the meantime, check out our thoughts on the latest trailer.