Resident Evil leaker clears up Resident Evil 5 remake ‘racism’ rumours
At this point, it's not a case of whether Capcom will give us a new-gen Resident Evil 5 remake but a case of when. Despite a massive gap between 2002's Resident Evil REmake and 2019's RE2 remake, the developer has since powered forward with RE3 in 2020 and 2023's acclaimed RE4 remake. And what number comes after four?
For those who weren't already convinced that Capcom was going to deliver a remake of 2009's Resident Evil 5 next, the post-credit scenes and Separate Ways DLC from RE4 put the pieces in place for Albert Wesker's big return. Despite this tease, things have gone quiet.
Resident Evil 5 scooper wades in on 'racism' controversy
Resident Evil 5 has a strange place in the rotted hearts of the Resiverse fandom, with it being called out for a variety of reasons. As well as being accused of masquerading as an RE4 clone with an African reskin, there were critiques about its action-heavy aesthetic, lack of horror, and potentially problematic depiction of African culture.
Recent leaks claimed that Resident Evil 5 remake had been put on hold due to concerns at Capcom about how to handle the game's race row. Noted Resi leaker Dusk Golem claims that this isn't the case and has given their own two cents about where things are up to.
According to Dusk Golem, a bigger influence from Capcom USA has had no effect on what's going on with the mythical Resident Evil 5 remake. Instead, the leaker claims that the game's original source code was lost during the 2011 Tsunami.
With allegations that the original RE5 depicted African people as savages even before they turned into zombies, Capcom then came under fire amidst accusations it added Sheva as a companion as a token gesture to try and dodge the controversy. Still, Capcom has maintained Sheva was always planned.
The British Board of Film Classification said that it takes racism "very seriously" and could find no evidence of it here, however, some have gone as far as saying Resident Evil 5 is "too racist" for a remake. We previously discussed how fans think RE5 would need a pretty big overhaul, but seeing what Capcom has done with the other remakes, it's possible to do it sensitively.
No matter what the consensus on Resident Evil 5's handling of African culture is, it doesn't sound like a potential race row is what's holding up its remake. That could lead to an altogether longer wait, because without the source code, we imagine it'll be pretty hard to bring RE5 back from the dead.
