Surprising absolutely no-one, Leon S. Kennedy confirmed for Resident Evil Requiem in new gameplay trailer

Fans conspired, and Capcom said no. Rumours swirled and still Capcom appeared to say no. And even after irrefutable evidence surfaced, the developer kept its lips sealed - until now. Leon S. Kennedy has finally officially been confirmed as a playable character in the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem - and much like Chris Redfield before him, the one-time twunk extraordinaire has formally been brushed with the taint of middle age.
Resident Evil Requiem (AKA Resident Evil 9) got its grand unveiling back in June from Capcom, with its debut trailer introducing us to protagonist Grace Ashcroft - daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from previous Resi games - as well as a decimated Racoon City. It didn't take long for chatter about a potential Leon S. Kennedy appearance to surface, but Capcom seemingly dismissed the rumours outright when Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi revealed the character had been considered and rejected as the new game's protagonist, because, "He's actually quite a bad match for horror."
However, that didn't entirely distinguish the flames of hope among fans for a potential supporting role, particularly when Nakanishi emerged again to confirm Requiem would feature characters from previous games in the series - just "don't over-expect or hype it", he warned, seemingly aiming his words at Leon stans. And then came a leak pointing to a completely different second playable character and it looked like Leon's chance had finally been and gone. Until, that is, artwork very prominently featuring a grizzled Mister Kennedy popped up this week on the PlayStation Store. The game was up, and Capcom has now - via a Game Awards showing - made Leon's role official.
The new trailer not only showed Leon in a new version of his iconic jacket, but also a snippet of shooting gameplay. It also revealed villain Victor Gideon, who seems to have links to Umbrella.
Resident Evil Requiem launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Steam on 27th February next year, and it's shaping up to be a particularly nerve-fraying series outing. Poor Alex Donaldson made a right racket when he gave it a look for Eurogamer earlier this year.