Ever since the first trailer for Capcom’s survival horror sequel Resident Evil Requiem teased the game’s return to Raccoon City, fans have been speculating the return of franchise icon Leon Kennedy as the title’s second playable character. Now, a new store listing seems to confirm that the game does, in fact, feature two heroes, but to fans’ dismay, it isn’t the dreamy super-agent everyone was hoping for.
As spotted via a GameStop store listing for Resident Evil Requiem’s Deluxe Edition, the upgraded version of the game comes with two additional in-game items, the Morphic Visor cosmetic filter and the Shadow Walker costume pack, both described as cosmetic items for Rosemary Winters, the daughter of Resident Evil 7 and 8’s protagonist Ethan Winters, last seen in her solo adventure, the Resident Evil Village DLC Shadows of Rose.
If the listing turns out to be accurate, this does confirm that Rose will be playable in the new game, and might play a major part too, judging by how all the cosmetic bonuses from the Deluxe Edition are specific to the character. Of course, this might just be a typo on GameStop’s end, possibly a mix-up between her and the game’s main protagonist, Grace Ashcroft.
Even assuming that the listing is true, Rose’s appearance in Resident Evil Requiem still poses some questions regarding the franchise’s timeline, as the title’s setting of around 2028 means that Rose would still be a young girl, as she was 16 years old in Shadows of Rose, which was set in 2037. While controlling a six or seven-year-old girl might make the experience even more frightening, it doesn’t make a lot of sense with modern titles’ more action-focused nature, so there might be a chance of a time-jump of some sort, especially since the cosmetic item’s description teases some sort of “visor” mechanic, possibly a high-tech piece of equipment from the future.
Until Capcom releases official word, all this is just speculation for now, although it does dampen fans’ hope for a playable Leon once more. This doesn’t completely rule out his appearance, as the character might still show up as an NPC, but either way, we don’t have to wait much longer to find out for sure, as Resident Evil Requiem approaches its release on 27 February 2026 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Joey Leong
