The horrific and gruesome world of Resident Evil 2 is coming to PUBG Mobile, according to a teaser released on Capcom’s Japanese Resident Evil account. The short 19-second teaser doesn’t give anything away, though, leaving us to wonder about the nature of this unlikely crossover.
“PUBG MOBILE × Resident Evil RE: 2 collaboration is decided!” the tweet reads. “What kind of innovative play can be produced by combining the world’s most popular mobile game and survival horror’s monument, two super IPs?”
Here’s the brief teaser:
The first thing to note is that Capcom hasn’t shared a release date for the crossover. With only a few weeks left in 2018, we have to assume that this crossover won’t actually happen until next year at the earliest, presumably around the same time as Resident Evil 2‘s release on Jan. 25. It’s also not clear whether this will be a Japan-only release or if it’ll also roll out in North America and Europe.
Not that we know what the crossover will even look like. The safest bet is that PUBG Mobile is planning to incorporate zombies for a special battle royale mode, perhaps something akin to Call of Duty‘s Blackout mode, which features the undead in certain sections of the map. Blackout doesn’t lean too heavily on the zombies, mostly dropping them near mystery boxes. It remains to be seen how PUBG Mobile will use these enemies to change the way the game is played.
Capcom has experimented with PvPvE zombie-centric multiplayer in the past to disastrous results. 2012’s Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, which also happened to be set during the events of Resident Evil 2, pit the Umbrella Corporation against S.T.A.R.S. in a fight for control of the city while also being hounded by the undead. The game flopped. That didn’t stop the studio from releasing 2016’s Umbrella Corps, a spiritual successor of Operation Raccoon City which fared even more poorly than its predecessor in terms of critical response.
Perhaps with a tried and true multiplayer game like PUBG, Capcom will finally hit that undead sweet spot. One thing is for sure: the studio’s Resident Evil 2 remake is absolutely delightful (and terrifying). We played it at E3 2018 and then again at NYCC 2018 and were very impressed with all of the tweaks made to the original experience, including a new over-the-shoulder camera that brings the game into the 21st century.
We’ll keep you updated as we hear more about this curious crossover.