Resident Evil 3 Remake: Release Date, Trailer, Pre-Order Details, And More

Resident Evil 3 is real. After a bout of rumors and leaks, the Resident Evil 3 remake was officially announced during Sony’s final State of Play presentation of 2019. The game is, obviously, a remake of Capcom’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis from 1999, and it’s coming packaged with another game too–which producers Masachika Kawata and Peter Fabiano spoke more about following the trailer reveal.

Resident Evil fans probably had a few questions about the Nemesis remake answered after watching that first reveal trailer, but if you’re not sure what to expect or you’re new to the Resident Evil series, stay with us!

We’ve collected all the information we have about the RE3 remake and its companion game Resident Evil Resistance, including platforms, release date, gameplay details, information on story and characters, and more. We’ll continue to update this story as we find out more.

Resident Evil 2 was one of our Best Games of 2019–read our thoughts on why we loved Resident Evil 2 and what makes it more than just a remake.

Announcement and Reveal Trailer

Rumors of a Resident Evil 3 remake began in early December 2019, with cover art appearing on the PlayStation Store. Since the leak occurred prior to The Game Awards, some speculated that an official announcement would be coming then.

Instead, Resident Evil 3 was announced during Sony’s State of Play presentation on December 10, 2019. Despite the rumors, it was a bit of a surprise reveal–the announcer introduced the trailer as the “unannounced campaign portion of Capcom’s Project Resistance.” Project Resistance is Capcom’s 1v4 asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror unveiled at Tokyo Game Show 2019, but with no ties to Resident Evil 3 at the time. Well, surprise–Resistance is coming packaged with RE3.

The Resident Evil 3 reveal trailer gave us an intense first-person POV sequence of a character fleeing from the series’ iconic tyrant, Nemesis. That character was eventually revealed to be Jill Valentine, one of the last remaining S.T.A.R.S. members still in Raccoon City during the deadly zombie outbreak, which players last experienced in the Resident Evil 2 remake. (Despite the brief first-person part of the trailer, Resident Evil 3 will continue in the vein of the Resident Evil 2 remake with its over-the-shoulder third-person action.)

Resident Evil fans may also be pleased (or not) to see some returning characters from the original RE3: Nemesis in the rest of the trailer. If you’ve never played the original and you’re confused about the chronology of the series and how Nemesis fits next to the Resident Evil 2 remake, scroll down to the Story and Characters section. Or stay away if you want to go in blind!

Release Date

The first reveal trailer for Resident Evil 3 also gave us a release date of April 3, 2020 for PlayStation 4, though just like previous Resident Evil games, you will also be able to get it on PC and Xbox One. Check out our Resident Evil 3 pre-order guide for details.

Platforms

As stated above, Resident Evil 3 will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.

PC Specs

Resident Evil 3 is coming to PC, but we’re not sure what the system requirements are just yet. We’ll update you as soon as we find out!

Pre-Order and Special Editions

You can pre-order Resident Evil 3 now–if you pre-order before its April 3, 2020 release date, you’ll get an exclusive Classic Costume Pack which includes Jill Valentine’s original RE3 outfit and Carlos Oliveira’s original hairstyle.

Base game pre-orders are $60 USD at major retailers. North American fans can grab the limited GameStop-exclusive Resident Evil 3 Collector’s Edition for $180, which comes with a physical copy of RE3 for PS4 or Xbox One, an 11″ statuette of Jill Valentine, a hardcover collector’s artbook, a double-sided Raccoon City map poster, and a digital RE3 soundtrack. The Jill figure is the same scale as the Leon statuette from the Resident Evil 2 Collector’s Edition. It’s also limited, so if you want one, you should pre-order the RE3 Collector’s Edition as soon as it goes live.

Head to our Resident Evil 3 pre-order guide for more details and links.

Multiplayer (Resident Evil Resistance)

Resident Evil 3 will have a multiplayer mode, which (as it turns out) is actually Resident Evil Resistance, the 1v4 asymmetric multiplayer game revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2019. Capcom originally lead fans to believe Project Resistance was a standalone Resident Evil spin-off, but it will come with Resident Evil 3.

In the RE3 reveal, its producers refer to Resident Evil Resistance as “an asymmetrical battle between 4 survivors and 1 mastermind,” where the mastermind can control creatures and set traps and the survivors must try to escape.

Story and Characters

According to the producers, Resident Evil 3 “leans more towards action” compared to the Resident Evil 2 remake. It’s set right before and then eventually simultaneous to the events of Resident Evil 2. You control Jill Valentine, one of the last remaining members of S.T.A.R.S. still in Raccoon City. S.T.A.R.S. is a specialized branch of the Raccoon City Police Department which received quite the shake-up during the events of the first Resident Evil game (both the original and the remake)–after the Mansion incident, Jill stayed behind in Raccoon City to continue investigating Umbrella. Not only does she get caught in the middle of the t-Virus outbreak, but she will also be pursued by RE3’s iconic Nemesis tyrant, designed especially to eliminate the remaining S.T.A.R.S. officers before they can whistleblow on Umbrella’s activities.

Mr. X was perhaps one of the most popular elements from the Resident Evil 2 remake (he was in the original game too, but only the “B” scenario) and it turns out Capcom probably has some more surprises in store for us with Nemesis too. According to RE3’s producers, Nemesis will have “more ways than Tyrant from Resident Evil 2 to track down his target Jill Valentine.” Nemesis is definitely an entirely different beast than Mr. X, but considering some of the liberties Capcom has taken with these remakes/reboots, who knows what new horrors they’re referring to?

Other returning characters, based on the reveal trailer, include Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service mercenaries Carlos Oliveira, Mikhail Viktor, and Nikolai Zinoviev, though only Carlos was pointed out by name in a video by the producers following the initial reveal. S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team member Brad Vickers also makes a brief appearance in the reveal trailer.