Resident Evil Requiem Officially Settles First-Person Vs. Third-Person Debate

New player data gathered from Resident Evil Requiem may finally put an end to the series’ waffling between first-person and third-person perspectives. Decades ago, Resident Evil began with fixed-camera games, but Resident Evil 4 sparked an over-the-shoulder revolution, both for the survival horror series and the industry at large. RE has since dabbled in first-person to reinvigorate its horror elements, but Requiem now shows that choosing one perspective over another isn’t a clear-cut decision.

For the most part, players tend to choose the default camera; i.e. first-person when playing as Grace, and third-person when playing as Leon in Resident Evil Requiem. About 90% of players chose to keep the over-the-shoulder perspective for Leon’s sections in Requiem, while 60% similarly remained in first-person while playing as Grace, according to game director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa in an interview with Denfaminicogamer (via Automaton). This means about 40% of players switched away from first-person, but the data still shows that both are popular.

The majority seem to be on board with the “intended” experience for Resident Evil Requiem, switching between first- and third-person according to the developer’s design philosophy. This effectively ends the first- vs. third-person debate by cementing Resident Evil as a dual-perspective series. Certain players opting to change the camera angle shows that having both options is popular – an unsurprising endpoint for the series’ experiments.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard introduced first-person to the series, and its direct sequel, Resident Evil Village, followed suit, but added a third-person mode post-launch. This was the first indication that developer Capcom might not take a firm stance either way on the matter moving forward, and Requiem proved that both perspectives can co-exist. Third-person seems to be slightly more popular overall, but not so much so that Resident Evil would abandon first-person.

Some interesting layers to the data show that perspective preference also aligns with region and platform. Third-person appears to be more popular in Japan and throughout Asia, and PC players tend to prefer first-person, likely because of their proximity to their monitor. Automaton speculates that a player’s or region’s gaming history also influences their preferences, such as first-person shooters being more popular historically in the West, whereas Japanese players are more likely to have grown up with third-person RPGs.

Giving players the choice between first- and third-person seems likely to remain in Resident Evil, and it’s impressive that Capcom has managed to make both seamless staples of the series. The first-person era was relatively short-lived with just two games, while third-person was used for three mainline entries and all the modern Resident Evil remakes. With how long the series has been running, though, Resident Evil Requiem combining the two camera angles felt inevitable, and now data shows that we’re likely to continue seeing both moving forward.

Systems

Released

February 27, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases

Engine

RE Engine