Resident Evil 3 Remake Was Planned For A While, Says Capcom

It's a wonder that Resident Evil 3 remake is coming so soon after last year's Resident Evil 2 remake. Given the timing in between the two releases, you might be quick to assume that development on RE3 might've been reactive to the positive reception of RE2. However, that wasn't the case. According to RE3's producer Pete Fabiano, once RE2 remake was greenlit, RE3 was already being considered and was in the cards.

"So RE2 started [development] first," said Fabiano in a recent GameSpot interview. "But one thing to clarify is that when we decided it was the right time to work on that game, we knew that we wanted to remake RE3 as well because it would essentially tie up the trilogy. We had already brought back the RE1 Remake with the remaster, and we were working on RE2, so we knew we wanted to have RE3, too. So it's not like it just came out after one year RE2 was done, and then suddenly you had RE3. It was planned."

He commented further: "But just to be clear, they didn't start development at the same time."

Simultaneous development should come as no surprise to those familiar with the industry's creative pipeline process. Fabiano explained that RE3 was in active development for three years, and had some overlap with RE2's development. In fact, what the RE2 team was doing with Mr. X helped inform the RE3 team's work on Nemesis, the towering tyrant-like pursuer pursuing Jill in that game.

"We saw what [the RE2 team] were doing with Mr. X, and he kind of upped the ante in their reimagined version of that game," said Fabiano. "And so when the RE3 director saw that, he was like, 'Okay, well I need to take Nemesis to the next level.' And I think that comes out in what players will see."

If you're curious about how RE3 is shaping up so far, be sure to read our in-depth preview. You can also check out our feature outlining everything we know about the game so far, as well as our pre-order guide.