Takayuki had zero interest in wondering whether Alfonso was still breathing or not. He had more important things to do—like deciding what kind of ga to develop next.
So far, he had already created a wide range of top-tier, classic titles, covering nearly every major genre.
With his current technical capabilities and financial resources, he could absolutely begin working on a massive open-world sandbox project.
But he felt it was still a little too early for that. He wanted to refine his craft just a bit more before diving into sothing so ambitious.
So, before that, he planned to make two or three more gas—ones that could be considered modern classics—before exploring other directions.
Sitting alone in his office, Takayuki pulled out a blank sheet of paper and began listing ideas one by one.
There were so many legendary gas from his previous life, but only a handful were suitable for developnt in the current environnt. His personal capacity was limited—so he could only prioritize the titles he liked most.
There was definitely so personal bias at play, but fortunately, most of the gas he loved were also widely loved by the public, with extrely high review scores across the board.
...
...
Then it struck him: he hadn't yet developed a ga in the horror/survival genre. Maybe that was the next direction?
Gas like Dead by Daylight, Resident Evil, Dead Space, and Silent Hill all fell into this category.
But truthfully, Takayuki was a bit reluctant. Aside from Resident Evil, he hadn't even touched the others—not because of quality, but because he didn't enjoy jump scares and that constant sense of dread. A touch of suspense was fine, but so of these gas were pure psychological tornt.
That said, horror was undeniably a major genre in gaming. Ignoring it entirely would be a sha.
So—why not Resident Evil?
He figured it wouldn't be too difficult to develop.
The original Resident Evil started as a deeply unsettling horror ga.
Its original translated na was actually Biohazard, and the story began in a classic European-style mansion.
But as the series evolved, the English na Resident Evil beca a better fit.
The series was also a great example of a "semi-open world" (hub-based) design.
Now that he thought about it, Capcom had always been good at setting industry benchmarks.
From the co-op hunting of Monster Hunter, to fighting gas like Street Fighter, to visual novels like Ace Attorney—a company rooted in action gaming had even managed to make text-based gas feel dynamic. That was no small feat.
And Resident Evil had always been one of Capcom's flagship franchises, consistently popular over the years.
Although entries 5 and 6 felt a little lazy and overly reliant on past success, the seventh returned to its horror roots and restored the franchise's prestige. The eighth shifted again toward flashy action—but thanks to the "Tall Vampire Lady," Takayuki held back his criticism. In a gaming era plagued by diocrity, Capcom was still doing better than most.
But the true classics, the holy grails, were definitely Resident Evil 1 through 4—with 4 being the peak, elevating the franchise to untouchable heights.
If he were smart, he could go straight to developing Resident Evil 4, the most beloved of the bunch.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it.
Resident Evil 4 wasn't just a good ga—it was built on the foundation of the earlier entries. Without the fanbase from the first few gas, it wouldn't have made such a huge impact. So it didn't feel right to skip ahead. Unless he had a truly "one-hit wonder" idea, he'd rather release the titles in sequential order.
Alright, it's decided: start with Resident Evil 1.
But a straight remake of the original wouldn't satisfy him.
His current technical level wasn't stuck in 1996 Capcom—it was more like 2010-tier ga dev capabilities. Using outdated thods would feel wrong—and frankly, like cheating the players.
If he was going to make it, it had to be top-tier.
With Unreal Engine in his toolkit, he had a massive advantage. It was both cost-efficient and incredibly powerful—so why not make full use of it?
As for the team...
There was no need to mobilize three or four developnt units this ti. A single group would be enough.
Massive investnt didn't always an better results. Sure, big investnts had worked out so far—even Monster Hunter, despite being a bit of a comrcial letdown, still earned back its budget and even turned a profit of $10–20 million.
But cost control was still essential. He didn't want his staff to develop the mindset that throwing more money at a project always led to success.
For this first Resident Evil, he'd cap the budget at $20 million, with a six-month developnt cycle.
The ga would focus more on puzzles and tension—not flashy combat, so expenses could be kept fairly low.
In this project, Unreal Engine's advantages would shine through perfectly: fewer developers, higher-quality results.
The ninth developnt group would be ideal. Its leader, Ei Uchiyama, was one of Takayuki's most trusted veterans and a pillar in the developnt world.
All ten of Takayuki's first-party dev team leaders were superstars—top-tier talent that other companies would kill to have. Even one of them would bring massive value.
But Takayuki had all ten. That in itself was terrifying.
Uchiyama was perhaps the least well-known among them. Quiet, calm, and hyper-focused, he always executed whatever Takayuki assigned with near perfection. But he did have one weakness: lack of creativity.
Of course, Takayuki knew part of that was his own fault. He hadn't given them many chances to take the lead creatively.
Maybe this was the right ti to change that—he could assign Resident Evil to them as a test. He'd provide the vision and light oversight, but let them lead the actual developnt.
Hmm... co to think of it, maybe he should start work on another ga or two alongside Resident Evil?
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