For long-time Resident Evil fans, Code Veronica has been the elephant in the room for years. Once the Resident Evil 3 remake was in the books, chronologically, Code Veronica was the next game in the series, so all eyes turned to it. And this was long before Resident Evil Veronica was announced.
In many ways, Code Veronica was Resident Evil 4 before there even was a Resident Evil 4 and also marked the series’ debut on the PS2, after it first arrived on the Dreamcast, of course. However, once the Resident Evil 4 remake was announced, hope for a Code Veronica remake shrivelled. The game had been essentially skipped.
This was frustrating for fans, as Code Veronica was becoming somewhat of a lost chapter in the series, with an entire generation of fans not understanding its importance. This was the game that saw the return of Albert Wesker after his “death” in the original entry.
It was also the title that finally reunited the Redfield siblings, gave us some more insight into Umbrella’s founders, and showed the company scrambling to cover its tracks in the wake of the Raccoon City disaster. But more importantly, it was a fully-fledged chapter in the Resident Evil series and just as important as any numbered entry.
However, Capcom found itself at a crossroads after the RE4 remake. The company had grown accustomed to that Resident Evil remake money, but needed to make a decision: did it commit to remaking the problematic Resident Evil 5, or did it put this off for a few years by remaking other games in the series first?
The Resident Evil 5 problem
Resident Evil 5 was a PR nightmare for Capcom, and the game hasn’t aged well. The fact is, it simply could not receive the same remake treatment other games have had and would likely need retconning and reimagining as a very different experience. But even doing that risks opening an old wound, and that too would attract criticism from some quarters.
It remains to be seen if Capcom will ever remake Resident Evil 5, but no matter how they tackle it, the game remains a problem. This issue is likely what turned Capcom’s eye back to Code Veronica. That, and fans were keen to check in on fan-favourite Claire Redfield after the stellar Resident Evil 2 remake, with RE: CV representing her next adventure in the franchise.
Capcom’s plans regarding what to do with Resident Evil remakes after 4 were up in the air for some time, but with the reveal of Resident Evil Veronica at Summer Games Fest 2026, its path forward for the next few years now seems clear.
Industry insider Dusk Golem, aka AestheticGamer had also poured cold water on the idea of a Resident Evil 5 remake when a new rating for the game popped up earlier this year (likely for a remaster or port). They then reported that Capcom was working on a Code Veronica remake and that this would release sometime after Resident Evil Requiem, likely in 2027.
Sure enough, this is exactly what was announced, so now we look to Dusk Golem’s other predictions, and when we do, Capcom’s plans for Resident Evil over the next few years begin to crystalize, and taking the RE5 issue into account, they start to make a lot of sense.
Dusk Golem has reported that Capcom will turn its attention to a remake of Resident Evil Zero after RE Veronica and that this is slated for release in 2028. While the annual release of two Resident Evil remakes back to back makes us uneasy, after the rush job that was 2020’s RE3 remake, we can only hope Capcom has learned from this.
Back to where it all began
But if we’re being positive about the report, then Resident Evil fans are eating well. Due to them being consistently proven correct, we now have absolutely no reason to doubt Dusk Golem; in fact, we sometimes suspect that Dusky is a very deliberate cog in the Resident Evil hype machine. But the possibility of a Resident Evil Zero remake has even bigger implications — it could lead directly into another remake of Resident Evil 1.
And wouldn’t you know, DuskGolem has also reported that this too is in the works, but several years away from release, possibly even after Resident Evil 10. While the existing Resident Evil 1 remake is still a contender for the best survival horror game ever made (fight me), it’s still just a very well-polished GameCube game and was made before Resident Evil 4 revolutionized the series with the “over the shoulder” viewpoint.
As wonderful as the first remake of RE1 will always be, another, made in the Resident Evil engine and looking as good as Resident Evil Requiem, is a tantalizing thing to consider. And our money is on that being the plan over at Capcom towers. Not only does this track with what DuskGolem is saying, but it also allows Capcom to put off dealing with a Resident Evil 5 remake for many more years.
Eventually, Capcom is going to run out of Resident Evil games to remake and will need to face down RE5 and make a decision. Maybe that’s where the REmakes end, and who knows, maybe we can finally get that Dino Crisis remake? But until then, we’re going to bask in this Resident Evil renaissance and celebrate the fact that Resident Evil Veronica is real, because for some of us, the path to it has been a long one.
