Resident Evil Village almost had Chris Redfield DLC

The long-awaited new chapter of Resident Evil Village is getting closer to release – but it could have looked very different once.

What we get is a DLC package known as the Winters expansion, which will include a third-person mode for the base game, an overhaul of the Mercenaries mode which will introduce new playable characters such as Lady Dimitrescu, and the new story-based chapter known as Shadows of Rose.

Shadows of Rose will put Ethan Winters’ daughter in the spotlight as she fights her way through the consciousness of the megafungus. This, Capcom said, will conclude the story of the Winters family. However, Rose wasn’t always going to be the focus of this DLC story. Instead, Capcom also had ideas for a Chris Redfield-focused expansion.

According to industry insider Dusk Golem, had this idea come to fruition, we would have seen a story focusing on Chris’ mental well-being after the events of Village. He was reportedly shown to “go a little mad about [the] pressures [and] guilt” that consumes him now.

Capcom, however, decided to put that idea on the back burner to instead focus on Rose’s story – something it described as providing a “meaty…and worthy conclusion” for Ethan’s family.

In an interview with 4gamer, Resident Evil Village director Kento Kinoshita explained that the team felt this story would be the one that would “best meet user expectations”. He said many of the Village’s story comments have seen players reflect on family dynamics and express how the game “moved” its players. That being said, Dusk Golem hinted that Rose was estranged from her mother Mia in the upcoming Shadows of Rose DLC.

The entire Winters Expansion DLC will be included in Resident Evil Village Gold Edition, which releases simultaneously on all consoles on October 28.