Following the release of the Resident Evil 6 debut trailer, Capcom held a press event in Tokyo to celebrate the franchise's 15th anniversary. Though much of the focus was on Revelations and Operation Raccon City, Resident Evil 6 did get a bit of the spotlight at the event's close. Executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, and director Eiichiro Sasaki all took to the stage to discuss the trailer, revealing a few new details about the game in the process.
According to producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, more people are working on Resident Evil 6 than any other game in the franchise, with a round 150 people directly involved and about 600
Much of it was confirmation of things we already knew. Kobayashi explained that we'd be playing as Leon, Chris, and the third character featured in the trailer, who remains nameless.
Leon's segment will apparently come first, though it sounds like many of the game's storylines will take place simultaneously. As outlined in the press release, Leon will have to deal with the aftermath of an biological attack that turns the president (and much of the population of a small town in the U.S.) into a zombie. His partner, unnamed in the trailer and new to the franchise, is apparently Helena Harper, a former member for the president's security detail.
There were far fewer details about Chris Redfield's segment, though the event confirmed that the action will be centered around a single city in China. (Officially speaking, his partner is still unknown, but fan consensus points to Beards Nevence, a character from the Marhawa Desire manga.)
And as for our mystery protagonist? Capcom would only describe him as "the man who's told to save the world," which lends credence to the theory that his blood holds the key to stopping the infection.
In our trailer breakdown, we hyptothesized that he was Alex Wesker, as the black leather gloves and fighting style were a dead ringer for his now deceased brother, Albert. Other theories have him pegged as Steve Burnside and the franchise's ubiquitous masked mercernary, HUNK. At this point, it's really anyone's guess.
Kobayashi also confirmed that traditional T-Virus zombies will be making a comeback, though he implied there's still a lot we don't know about the game's enemies. One new baddie, pictured above, is named Javo, and he's apparently neither a standard issue zombie nor a Las Plagas-infected creature.
Finally, Hirabayashi revealed that Resident Evil 6 is the largest project in the franchise's history, with 150 developers working directly on the project, and a full staff total that's well over 600.
Resident Evil 6 is scheduled for a worldwide release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20. A PC release will follow at a later date.
Thanks, Andriasang.
