In coordination withResident Evil’s 30th anniversary, Capcom will release the ninth main installment of theResident Evilseries on February 27th, 2026, calledResident Evil Requiem. First formally announced at the end of the 2025 Summer Games Fest, a reveal trailer forResident Evil Requiemsuggested that the game will take place in the ruins of Raccoon City, at least in part.
Additionally, theRequiemtrailer showcased the game’s supposed primary protagonist in the form of the young FBI technical analyst Grace Ashcroft, daughter ofResident Evil Outbreak’s Alyssa Ashcroft. WhileResident EvilRequiem’s reveal traileris rather short, there’s still a lot to learn about Grace from her mother’s past and gameplay that was revealed behind closed doors at Summer Games Fest.
The History of Grace Ashcroft’s Family
Resident Evilfans were first introduced to the Ashcroft family in2003’sResident Evil Outbreakwith the then 28-year-old investigative journalist Alyssa Ashcroft. Described as a master of unlocking things, Alyssa Ashcroft is one of many characters gamers can play in short scenarios inOutbreak. In 1998, Alyssa Ashcroft and her partner Kurt Diamond traveled to Arklay County to investigate rumors of corruption at a hospital in the Arklay Mountains.
There, Kurt was fatally infected by a zombified woman, and Ashcroft was captured by Umbrella Corporation researcher Dr. Greg Mueller, who wiped her memories of the event. Despite the death of Kurt, Ashcroft continued to investigate and report onmysterious occurrences in Arklay County, such as an unidentified body washing up on the Aimes River.
Ashcroft’s life would forever be changed in September 1998 when she was present at Raccoon City during its T and G-virus outbreak, where she became infected with the ε-Strain, or Epsilon Strain, of the T-virus after drinking contaminated water. In an attempt to flee the outbreak, Ashcroft and a small group of survivors traveled back to the Arklay Mountains, where they were helped by former Dr. Albert Lester of the Arklay hospital.
However, Ashcroft eventually discovered that Lester had gone mad and was responsible for the mysterious deaths and disappearances on the mountains, feeding people toa T-virus mutated plantin the hospital. It was here that Ashcroft slowly began to regain her memories of her first visit to the hospital, along with the death of Diamond, and discovered Umbrella’s connection to the hospital.
Alyssa Ashcroft’s Investigations Post Raccoon City
Just before Raccoon City was destroyed by a missile, Ashcroft and a handful of survivors managed to escape the city, with Ashcroft later getting treated with a vaccine to cure her of the Epsilon Strain infection. With her experiences in Raccoon City and Arklay County, as well as secret files recovered from Umbrella, Ashcroft published the article “What is a B.O.W.: Blowing the Lid Off this Horrifying Secret Project”, exposing Umbrella’s deceptive medical practices and bioweapon experiments.
While this article did ultimately help shut down Umbrella, most of Raccoon City’s monstrous events were dismissed by the U.S. government as urban myth. Despite this, Ashcroft continued to investigate mysterious disappearances nationwide, such as the Dulvey Parish, Louisiana disappearances in the 2016 article “Over 20 Missing in 2 Years.”
The Early Life and Career of Grace Ashcroft
At some point following thedestruction of Raccoon City, Alyssa chose to raise a child named Grace. That said, it’s currently unknown who Grace’s father is or if Alyssa got married at all, given that Grace still has the Ashcroft name and not her father’s. Alyssa’s career and investigative nature likely inspired Grace to take up a similar career path with the FBI. Unlike her mother, Grace appears to be a bit skittish and unorganized based on her messy and overcrowded desk in the FBI, nervousness around her boss, FBI Special Agent Nathan Demps, and lateness in submitting a report on an unidentified disease.
IfResident Evil Requiemtakes place in 2026, similar to howResident Evil Villagetook place in its release year of 2021, that may suggest Alyssa Ashcroft was murdered in the Wrenwood Hotel in 2018, eight years ago. It’s unknown if Grace was present at the Hotel during Alyssa’s murder, but scenes intercut of Alyssa inRequiem’s trailer suggest that players may witness Alyssa’s death in some way or that Grace has some ability to experience visions of her mother’s death.
Regardless ofGrace’s past withResident Evil’s Wrenwood Hotel, Grace accepts Demps’ request to investigate a new crime scene at the Hotel, which appears to get her captured. An unknown man later refers to Grace as the one he’s been searching for and calls her the “chosen one.”
Grace Ashcroft’s Potential Role in Resident Evil Requiem
During a closed-doors gameplay demo at Summer Games Fest, a few attendees were able to play a brief private gameplay demo ofResident Evil Requiem. Here, the demo showed Grace waking up in an abandoned building, hanging upside down, and having her blood drawn for an unknown reason. She’s then forced to make her way through the building while evading a hulking, bandaged monster with no weapons.
Based on this brief gameplay demo and previous characterization, Grace may play more akin toAshley Graham or an early game Ethan Winters, relying on puzzle solving and melee weapons to avoid enemies. Being an FBI agent, Grace may show more combat prowess later in the game as she acquires more weapons or becomes more familiar withRequiem’s enemies.
In terms ofResident Evil Requiem’s story, Grace’s family history may come back to haunt her in a variety of interesting ways. For example, with the unknown figure calling Grace the “chosen one” and Grace later being seen having her blood drawn, Alyssa’s seemingly cured Epsilon Strain infection may have been passed or mutated to her daughter.
This could potentially make Grace’s blood the perfect basis for a new bioweapon for Umbrella remnants or an entirely new faction to use for despicable actions. Grace’s genetics may additionally be the only remaining source to potentially cure or eliminate any surviving or mutated monsters from the Raccoon City outbreak.
During the Summer Games Fest gameplay demo ofResident Evil Requiem, Capcom announced thatRequiemcould be played in either first or third-person format.
