Capcom Wants Feedback on Resident Evil Village, Particularly Its Title

What's in a name? In the case of the eighth mainline Resident Evil game, the series name is there, the word "Village" is present with a sneaky roman numeral VIII, but the actual number itself isn't. Capcom's already come forward to try and clear that up, but it's something they're also checking to see if players understand in a new feedback survey, which also asks about Resident Evil Village's reveal and what players plan to do for next-gen.

This morning, Capcom posted a link to this new survey via the official Resident Evil Twitter account. For the most part, it's a fairly run of the mill market research survey, asking some basic demographic questions alongside ones about how interested respondents are in the series and familiarity with confirmed features and aspects of Resident Evil Village.

The numberless name, though, gets a page of the survey all its own. Capcom's survey asks respondents to rate six statements about the name Resident Evil Village on a standard five-point scale ranging from "strongly agree to strongly disagree," and the goal is clearly to see whether folks are getting the right takeaways from the name.

Survey queries like these are by no means a sure sign that Capcom's looking to change the name of Resident Evil Village, but it's not out of the question. Responses to statements about the name could also go on to influence how the sequel is marketed in more subtle ways: the hidden roman numeral could be emphasized more, Capcom could decide to refrain from shortening it to "Village" as much as possible in materials and interviews, and so on. Besides, some quibbling over naming conventions could help generate conversation in a way—USgamer Reviews Editor Mike Williams already beat me to the comparison with the wacky Fast and Furious series titling when Capcom affirmed that Resident Evil Village is the correct name, and it's a good one to make.

Also of note is a survey section where Capcom asks which next-gen system or systems respondents think they'll purchase. The question lists both the regular and digital versions of the PS5 plus the Xbox Series X and an "Xbox Series X Digital Only Console (if available)." While reports of another next-gen Xbox codenamed "Lockhart" have gathered momentum of late, details on its supposed specifications remain slim. Other Xbox or no, Capcom could clearly benefit from learning how much Xbox-owning Resident Evil fans value having a disc drive versus making all their purchases digitally as we move into next-gen.

Resident Evil Village is targeted for release in 2021. So far, it's confirmed for release on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. Capcom's also promising more news on Village coming in August.