Resident Evil 1 remake 2026 rumour debunked as insiders disagree

The rumours of a new remake of the first Resident Evil are not as definite as they seemed, despite it being the 30th anniversary in 2026.

There have been whispers of a new Resident Evil 1 remake for a while now and given it’s the 30th anniversary of the whole franchise in 2026, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if that was when Capcom was planning a second redo of the classic PlayStation 1 game.

That also means it’s very easy to just make stuff up and pass it off as a rumour. And so it is that different sources seem to be in disagreement over whether a new Resident Evil 1 remake is on the way or not.

If it is happening though, the latest rumour claims that the new remake will not feature pre-rendered backdrops but will include the crimson head zombies, from the original 2002 remake on the GameCube.

According to Biohazard Declassified the new version of the original survival horror will be slower-paced than the Resident Evil 2 remake, with zombies taking more damage and each one having their own unique design.

The remake will still have a third person viewpoint, but it’s described as ‘different’ and slower paced that the ones for the more action-orientated games.

There’ll also be an expansion of the Resident Evil 1 lore, although it’s not clear what this could mean – perhaps some new details to tie it into the later games or to account for the fact that there probably won’t be a Resident Evil Zero remake.

People might be surprised, but I don’t actually just believe in baseless rumors, and as far as I know nothing of the sort of what’s being claimed with RE:1 for a 30th anniversary thing is happening in any shape or form.

That’s all I gotta’ say on that. It’s someone lying.

— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) May 19, 2024

Previously, movie rumourmonger DanielRPK had also suggested that the remake would be released in 2026 and at first it seemed as if AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem agreed as well.

Dusk Golem is the most respected Resident Evil leaker, but it seems a screenshot doing the rounds on Sunday, appearing to show him confirming the rumours, was a fake.

The tweet above seems to make it clear that he doesn’t think a new remake is happening, although there is always the possibility he just doesn’t know about it yet.

It always seemed inevitable that Capcom would get round to a new remake of the original Resident Evil, as while the first is well regarded it’s very old now and uses static, pre-rendered backdrops, like the PS1 game.

That means there is plenty of justification for a new remake, the only question has been when to do it. Some had theorised that Capcom was waiting to finish all the remakes and we may indeed have reached that point, as it’s not clear what else would get made after this.

The 30th anniversary is obviously a good excuse too, but others had imagined that they were waiting for the next generation or would try to make the new remake first person, in order to differentiate it further.

Capcom will be at Summer Game Fest but if the remake is not due until 2026 it’s more likely that we’ll hear about Resident Evil 9 first, regardless of whether these latest rumours are true or not.