The Resident Evil series may set a future installment in Japan — a setting no mainline game has visited to date.

While no new game in Japan has yet been confirmed, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa has discussed the possibility of a fresh title exploring the series' homeland in a new interview, sparking discussions among fans about what such a game might look like.

Speaking to Japanese outlet Futaman, in remarks translated by IGN, Kumazawa said that a Japan-set Resident Evil game had been thought about. "I think that every Japanese Resident Evil fan has definitely thought about a Japan setting, and I’ve also considered it myself," Kumaza said. "As the series is primarily developed by staff in Japan, I think everyone on the dev team has probably thought about it. Even though Japan hasn’t appeared as a setting for the games yet, I think it might at some point in the future."

While the Resident Evil series has primarily been set in the US, it has also explored fictional places in other parts of the world, such as Resident Evil Village’s Eastern European setting and Resident Evil 5’s controversial foray into West Africa. However, we have never seen Umbrella Corp’s impact on Japan.

Silent Hill f transported Konami’s iconic horror series to 1960s Japan last year, kicking off some discussions on Reddit and other forums as to why Japan’s other major survival horror franchise hadn’t gone for a Japan setting yet. Although there has been some enthusiasm for a Resident Evil set in Japan among Japanese-speaking commenters, many hope that such a game would steer away from a traditional village setting, which has already been done by many other Japanese horror games such as Silent Hill f, Fatal Frame and Siren.

On the flip side, some fans have pointed out that Japan has potential as a setting, considering all the small islands that could inspire in-game locations for a virus outbreak.

Reacting to Kumazawa’s comment, some Japanese fans pointed out that Capcom’s survival horror franchise has had a Japanese main character before, but in a spin-off only released in Japan.

Takeru Tominaga is the protagonist of the official Resident Evil manga Biohazard Heavenly Island. He’s the assistant director of Idol Survival, a reality TV show featuring bikini-clad models on a Caribbean island that just so happens to be the former site of an Umbrella Corp lab (what could possibly go wrong?). Soon, he and the remaining contestants and crew are fighting a very different battle against the zombifying T-virus. "Even if it’s difficult for them to make a Resident Evil set in Japan, a Japanese protagonist might be possible," mused a user on X. The games also have a few Japanese or half Japanese characters including Resident Evil Outbreak’s Yoko Suzuki and, of course, Jill Valentine.

Kumazawa also assured fans that, despite its final-sounding title, Resident Evil Requiem would by no means be an end to the series. Although Resident Evil Requiem does wrap up or pay tribute to some of Resident Evil’s iconic elements ("It’s a Requiem for Leon’s battles against bioterrorism, and a requiem for the past Raccoon City incident"), Kumazawa added that "There are still many things we'd like to do, such as telling the stories of characters that didn’t appear in Requiem.”

He also says future Resident Evil games will "preserve the core elements of the series" and stay true to established characters and settings, while experimenting with different ideas. "Players will get bored if we just keep making the same kind of games, so we'd like to continue taking on new challenges." He gives Village's Megamycete concept and Requiem’s POV switching as examples of new ideas the dev team has tried out to keep the series fresh.

As for what's next for Capcom’s survival horror series, Kumazawa hopes fans are looking forward to the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem story expansion. Meanwhile, Resident Evil is getting a new movie set in Raccoon City, which will hit theaters this September.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.