Ex-Resident Evil Dev Blames Code Veronica for RE5 and 6

Ever wonder why Resident Evil 5 and 6 went full action blockbuster? According to one former Capcom dev, you can trace that shift back to a fan-favorite entry: Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

Miguel Corti, who joined Capcom in 2007 and worked his way up to senior manager, recently shared some candid thoughts on Bluesky (in posts that have since been deleted). In his view, Code Veronica is the game where the series first started to go off the rails. "There is a direct line from CV to RE 5 and 6," he said, pointing out that it tried to cram in as many locales and plot threads as a Dreamcast disc could hold.

Corti didn't mince words: he called Code Veronica's opening cinematic "a straight-up Die Hard/John Woo pastiche" with "nothing horror about it." That tonal shift, he argues, set the stage for the more action-oriented direction of later entries. He even admitted his bias: "Seeing how it had a direct, negative development on the franchise means I am pretty biased against it. Take my bias with a grain of salt."

It's a spicy take considering how beloved Code Veronica is among many fans. But Corti also noted that many devs consider it the best of the pre-Resident Evil 4 titles—though he'd argue constantly that Resident Evil 2 is much better. Ouch.

Of course, this is all water under the bridge for most of us. Resident Evil 5 and 6 may have been divisive, but Capcom has been on a survival horror hot streak for nearly a decade now, starting with Resident Evil 7. And with a Code Veronica remake recently revealed, the classic game might finally get the update it deserves.

So what do you think? Was Code Veronica really the catalyst for RE's action era, or is Corti off base? Will you be picking up the remake? Let us know in the comments!