The addition of co-op has been an essential part of theResident Evilgamesover the course of its 25 years history. While it hasn’t been part of every single game in the series, it has been part of enough to make a difference. WithResident Evil Villageright around the corner, many fans are curious to know whether this upcoming next-gen entry would bring back this exciting aspect of the series in some form or not.
2017’sResident Evil 7saw Capcom take a different approach to theResident Evilseries by giving it a more survival horror appeal like the early games in the franchise. Unfortunately for co-op fans, this meant that Capcom had to cut down the co-op mode that could have otherwise hindered some of the frantic moments of the game. WithResident Evil Villagebeing a direct sequel toResident Evil7, this could be the case all over again.
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AlthoughRE Villageis connectedtoRE 7and has a similar approach to horror, it also has its footing in the action-focusedRE 4,RE5, andRE 6. The latter made it more likely forRE Villageto have a co-op mode, but that’s not the case. At launch,Resident Evil Villagedoes not have co-op of any kind.
Resident Evil Villageis rumored to featurethree playable characters. While the identities of the others aside from Ethan are currently a mystery, there are few possibilities of who they could be. For instance, a character named Emily is rumored to be the second character that players get to play as inRE Village. As it seems, Emily is looking for her father and join forces with Ethan at some point in the story. This could create specific scenarios where one player plays as Ethan and the other plays as Emily.
Resident Evil Villageis also set to feature vastopen spaces to explorethis time around with verticality playing a more important role in combat encounters. As such, a co-op option in such areas could lead to more tactful gameplay, with both players having an ample amount of freedom to approach a given encounter.
While a traditional partner seems too far-fetched as Ethan would travel alone most of the time, the game could take note ofAda Wong’s campaigninRE 6. Many would recall the faceless character the “Agent,” who was added later on in the game as Ada’s co-op partner. The “Agent” could be an AI-controlled character or any player online.Resident Evil Villagecould add a similar mystery character as Ethan’s co-op partner to amp up the gameplay experience.
Regardless,Resident Evil Villagedoes not have co-op at launch and Capcom has not announced any intention of adding it to the game at the time of this writing.
Resident Evil Villagelaunches July 15, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
