During today’s Resident Evil Showcase, Capcom announced that PlayStation 5 owners can download an exclusive Resident Evil Village demo, The Maiden, starting today. The brief online event was chock-full of several other major announcements, as well. Most notably, the publisher confirmed the highly-anticipated survival horror title will hit PC, last-gen, and current-gen consoles in May of this year.
The showcase also unveiled a brand-new story trailer, which featured more insight about what Resident Evil 7 protagonist Ethan Winters will have to contend with this time around. Capcom additionally offered up a first look at the gameplay for RE Village, complete with news that the merchant from Resident Evil 4 has returned. Evidently, what has also returned is Capcom’s penchant for getting creative with its pre-launch demos.
An exclusive Resident Evil Village demo dubbed The Maiden is now available to download exclusively on PlayStation 5. The Maiden doesn’t feature any of RE Village’s weapons or combat encounters, however. In fact, it doesn’t include combat at all. Instead of playing as the main game’s protagonist, Ethan, players assume the role of the demo’s titular Maiden. The character’s goal centers on finding a way out of the castle, an experience that should allow players to become fully immersed in the audio and visuals that will be on display in RE Village. While The Maiden demo is a PS5 exclusive, Capcom plans to release a separate demo across all platforms on an unspecified date this spring.
Shortly after Resident Evil Showcase aired, news of the demo’s launch caused fans to flock to the PlayStation Store. And it didn’t take long for the PS Store to begin crashing beneath the weight of the overwhelming demand. At the time of writing, however, it appears as though everything should be business as usual. Anyone who wants to drop into RE Village’s spooky castle via The Maiden demo can do so now.
Fortunately, the road to the next major Resident Evil installment is nearly at an end. It’s been a long and winding road, too. Many may recall that cursory details about RE Village hit the web ahead of the publisher’s summer 2020 announcement, thanks to leaks from insiders. Story spoilers cropped up late last year due to a data breach on Capcom’s networks. Soon enough, fans will get to experience the Ethan’s next terror-inducing adventure for themselves.
Resident Evil Village hits stores on May 7 for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.
