Leaker Dusk Golem claims that Resident Evil: Requiem was initially conceived as an open-world action game but later underwent a development reboot due to insufficient horror atmosphere. This is a unilateral account of an undisclosed development process, and the related settings have not been confirmed by Capcom.
According to leaks, the project was using a different working title at the time, with the story set on a fictional island near Singapore. Players were originally able to use vehicles for movement, and the game planned to include infection metrics inspired by the Resident Evil spin-off series.
Leaks suggest that the early character lineup included Leon, Jill, Sheva, Ada, and two new characters, with the BSAA originally intended to serve as the main opposing force. The story was also planned to explore Chris's situation following the ending of Resident Evil Village, as well as the distrust between characters.
Dusk Golem believes that the excessive number of characters, combined with elements aimed at pleasing series fans, caused the project to lack a unified direction and sufficient horror atmosphere, leading to a development reboot. According to him, the rebooted plan initially centered on Leon before gradually evolving to feature the new protagonist, Grace.