First-Person or Third-Person? Resident Evil Requiem Director Explains Regional Player Preferences

At Tokyo Game Show 2025 and gamescom 2025, the developers of Resident Evil Requiem noticed an interesting trend in how players chose their perspective in the game's demo.

Japanese players attending TGS in Tokyo tended to favor third-person mode, while Western players trying the demo at gamescom in Cologne mostly preferred first-person mode.

According to game director Koshi Nakanishi, this difference likely stems from the gaming history of each region. Western fans grew up on first-person PC shooters like Doom, while Japanese players were shaped by third-person console RPGs such as Dragon Quest on the Famicom.

"I think those kinds of differences are significant," said Resident Evil Requiem’s director.

At the same time, Nakanishi pointed out that this isn’t an absolute rule—not all Western players love first-person shooters, and not all Japanese players prefer third-person RPGs. He also noted that the situation is gradually changing, with many younger Japanese gamers now playing first-person titles like Minecraft and Apex Legends. The developer expressed interest in studying how these preferences might evolve as players get older and would like to see deeper analysis in the future.

As previously revealed, Resident Evil Requiem will allow players to freely switch between first-person and third-person modes, which is expected to have a significant impact on the horror experience.

Recently, Koshi Nakanishi admitted that only audience reactions help the team understand how scary a particular scene actually is.

Resident Evil Requiem is currently in development for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, with a release date set for February 27, 2026. By the way, the specs of the PCs running the demo at Tokyo Game Show 2025 have already surfaced online, though official system requirements have yet to be announced.