Capcom has ambitious plans for its proprietary technology: the RE Engine is set to become an 'AI-generation game engine'. Programmer Satoshi Ishida announced this on October 2nd at the Capcom conference, 'Capcom Open Conference RE:2026'. This transformation is part of a major internal initiative dubbed the REX Project.
Why Is Capcom Reworking the RE Engine?
Ishida cited three reasons. First, games have grown so large that data volumes and build times are slowing down development. Second, over 2,000 developers now work with the engine, including international teams and individuals from other engine backgrounds – necessitating improved multilingual support and accessibility. Third, AI needs to be deeply integrated into the development pipeline, rather than merely tacked on.
What New Systems Are Part of the REX Project?
Capcom is consolidating several tools under this umbrella:
- RE:Dox unifies data processing across various formats
- RE:UI accelerates development tools by separating appearance and state
- RE:Log replaces text-based logging with an ID-based system
- RE:Flows is a visual scripting tool that can automatically convert into standard code
- RE:Runtime is a revamped runtime core designed for batch processing large numbers of characters, complemented by the optimized execution layer RE:C++
The goal: an engine where AI understands and generates code, performs automated test runs for debugging, and directly supports development. Ishida spoke of a future where teams 'create games collaboratively with AI.' Capcom states it has already open-sourced a portion of the underlying technology to make it available for AI training.
What Does This Mean for Players and the Future of Resident Evil?
The RE Engine has been around since 2014, making its debut in Resident Evil 7 in 2017. Since then, it has powered nearly 30 Capcom titles. What changes for players in the short term? Probably nothing visible – the announcement primarily concerns the tools behind the scenes. Nevertheless, it's exciting because it raises the question of how much AI will ultimately be present in finished games.
Capcom had stated to investors in June that generative AI should make routine tasks more efficient, allowing developers more time for essential work. The company emphasized that the core creativity of games should come from humans. From our perspective, the extent of the REX Project will be measured by this promise: most fans can probably tolerate automated tests and reduced build times, but creative content generated by AI is often a red flag within the community.
Source: Eurogamer
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