For Tokyo Game Show 2019, Capcom shared a ton of new information this week on their newest Resident Evil title, a spin-off game called Project Resistance. This new side title is unique for the series, being an “asymmetrical” co-op game that pits four survivors against a nefarious “Mastermind” who uses traps, zombies, and the infamous Tyrant to halt their escape from a lab near Raccoon City.

Yay I love timers and non campaign missions 🙄🙄🙄
WHHYYYY would you do this, you were on such a good streak with RE7 & RE2 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/eSAmacu3xZ

— Hellion #17 ⚔️🍒 (@Hellion_X24) September 12, 2019

Unfortunately, fans of the series are less than thrilled with Capcom’s Project Resistance announcement. Many people figured that the next major announcement from Capcom on the franchise would be news of a Resident Evil 3: Nemesis remake to follow on the overwhelming success of this year’s Resident Evil 2 Remake. Early leaks of the Project Resistance teaser trailer changed fan forecasting towards speculating on a contemporary version of Resident Evil Outbreak, which still appealed to a good number of Resident Evil veterans.

Gameplay in addition to refining the experiences people expect from us. If we just continue to offer up the same thing over and over again, people will gradually lose interest with what we’re making. Project Resistance offers up a really interesting way to do that. The most

— Matt Walker (@retroOtoko) September 12, 2019

Capcom Producer Matt Walker wrote a series of posts on his Twitter account this week to address some of the negative attention the announcement of Project Resistance has generated on the internet. In addition to acknowledging the harsh reception, Walker tried to assure unhappy Resident Evil fans that the developers were open to critique and were willing to work to improve the Project Resistance experience before release.

In the Twitter thread, Walker explains that Capcom knows that players really loved the “quality core experience” of Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 7, but Capcom sees a need to “branch out and try to offer up new gameplay in addition to refining the experience people expect from[them.]” He goes on to add that Project Resistance is “survival horror at its core” and a good fit for the classic Resident Evil vibe, likely referring to recent Capcom endeavors in multiplayer Resident Evil spinoffs like the tactical shooter Umbrella Corps, which was very poorly received.

We’re also earnestly trying to get feedback from people who have played it so we can actually make it better, which I feel is fairly rare from a publisher of our size. Based on that feedback, it could grow from a project to a fantastic game.

— Matt Walker (@retroOtoko) September 12, 2019

Project Resistance‘s official website lists the closed beta as going live in October, and Capcom has not assigned a release window yet. According to IGN, Capcom explained during the Project Resistance presentation that the game is something of an experiment, which likely means that Capcom intended the game to be a fun filler title between Resident Evil 2 Remake and their next major release for the franchise. Walker’s post sounds optimistic that enthusiastic and thoughtful feedback during the beta might help elevate Project Resistance from warm Sprite to unexpected fan favorite.

(7/8 as I went a bit over) we’ll see. As I said last March, you’ll find what I say isn’t untrue. Project Resistance I have a guess what I think it is, but I’m not much wiser on it than the general public. But I’m almost 100% positive this either is spun-off from or IS Remake 3.

— AestheticGamer (@AestheticGamer1) August 30, 2019

The announcement of the 4v1 Project Resistance doesn’t mean that the door is closed to more Resident Evil news for Capcom in the future. A year hasn’t even passed since Resident Evil 2 Remake released. A popular rumor from a leaker going by “AestheticGamer” claims that Project Resistance is a multiplayer mode that was developed for a remake of Resident Evil 3 and became big enough to stand on its own. It will definitely be interesting to see what kinds of changes are made to the game following the closed beta, and hopefully Capcom can follow their own lead and give fans the kind of survival-horror experience they’ve been waiting for, even if it’s in a weird package.