Summary
Resident Evil Outbreakis seeing a sudden surge of interest, with the title achieving a new peak player count of over 5,000 people. While considerably lower than other modern online games,Resident Evil Outbreakhas the disadvantage of having been officially taken offline years ago, meaning all these players are going through the trouble of figuring out how to connect to fan-run servers to play.
Resident Evil Outbreakis a relative outlierin the overall franchise, with many players having never had an opportunity to try it in its prime. As the first online co-op game in the series,Resident Evil Outbreakputs players in the role of one of eight characters who are attempting to survive the Raccoon City outbreak that occurs during the main series' second and third entries. While the game certainly has its fans, players only had a few years to enjoy its online mode, with the game launching in the US in 2004 and its servers going offline at the end of 2007.
Now, however, PS2 titleResident Evil Outbreakis getting a second lease on life due torenewed interest from the recentResident Evil Requiemtrailer. As has been the case with some recent mainlineResident Evilgames, the franchise has occasionally introduced or brought back characters with connections to prior entries, like bringing backResident Evil 2’s Sherry Birkin inResident Evil 6. InRequiem, the game appears to feature a protagonist named Grace Ashcroft, who is the daughter of aResident Evil Outbreaksurvivor named Alyssa Ashcroft. It seems this connection has led to players revisiting the originalOutbreak, or trying it out for the first time, with its fan server playercount reaching an all-time high of 5,635.
Learning About Alyssa Ashcroft and the Resident Evil Timeline
Many players may not be aware of Alyssa Ashcroft, but her story has played a role in the background of the series. Alyssa was a journalist at the Raccoon Press starting in 1993, where she repeatedly investigated events tied to theUmbrella Corporation. She canonically survived the destruction of Raccoon City and went on to play a role in the Raccoon Trials. However, modernResident Evilplayers may recognize her name fromResident Evil 7, where a newspaper can be found containing an article covering the biological disaster and subsequent disappearances in the region, penned by Ashcroft.
According to theResident Evil Requiemtrailer, Alyssa Ashcroft has since died, having apparently been murdered at a place called the Wrenwood Hotel. Her daughter, Grace, will be returning to that hotel in the upcoming game, which will presumably shed more light on the fate of her mother.
The renewed interest shows that players are intrigued by the connection to an originalResident Evil Outbreakcharacter, leading some to wonder if Capcom might consider remastering it someday. In any case, more about the Ashcrofts will be revealed soon enough, withResident Evil Requiemarriving in February of 2026.
