During Gamescom 2025, I got the exciting chance to chat with the legendary Shinji Hashimoto about his new project, Resident Evil Survival Unit, and had a great interview with him.
If you don't know who he is, here is a short summary about him.
Shinji Hashimoto is a legendary Japanese video game producer and executive best known for his 27-year career at Square Enix, where he shaped some of the biggest franchises in gaming history. He is most famous for spending over a decade as the brand manager and producer for iconic titles like Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX, and for co-creating Kingdom Hearts, after pitching the idea to a Disney executive in an elevator. As a true industry veteran, he ultimately rose to the top of Square Enix as a Senior Managing Executive Officer before retiring from the company.
What is Resident Evil Survival Unit?
Co-developed by Aniplex and Joycity, Resident Evil Survival Unit is a brand-new mobile real-time strategy game dropping across global markets. Set in an alternate parallel universe with a completely original storyline, the game drops you right into the middle of a crumbling Raccoon City. Stranded in the ruins with a squad of isolated survivors, your goal is simple: build up your base, lock down vital resources, and expand your influence to claw your way out alive. It also features Story Missions where you’ll navigate your way through the iconic R.P.D. station, meet up with Claire Redfield, and much more!
Interview with Mr. Hashimoto about Resident Evil Survival Unit
The Levi Feed: As the Executive Producer of Resident Evil Survival Unit, how has
the experience of overseeing this project been for you personally?
Shinji Hashimoto: Ah. In my previous job, I also worked on big projects, but this time I changed jobs and joined the Joycity Group. Now, we are taking on a new challenge of creating something by borrowing a license from Capcom. Regarding that, every day is very exciting, and I'm really enjoying it.
The Levi Feed: What aspect of the game are you most excited for players to experience?
Shinji Hashimoto: Well, in Japan, the wave hasn't really hit yet, but this strategy genre isn't just mainly about "gacha." It's about thinking up strategies while fighting or cooperating with people around the world. The scope of the game is quite broad in various ways, so I really want everyone to enjoy that aspect.
The Levi Feed: With Survival Unit set in a parallel timeline to Resident Evil 2 and 3, how did you balance iconic lore with an original story? Can fans expect plenty of easter eggs and nods to the original games?"
Shinji Hashimoto: Well, to some extent, once you download, register, and actually play it, you will eventually understand. While respecting the IP, it's a title where I've attached elements of the game I wanted to make, like character growth and various other things. So, I really hope people play it to see that. For now, based on what as been announced, various characters are appearing in things like the promotional video. That includes things Capcom couldn't do or didn't do until now. In various titles I've done in the past, I've done what you might call an "all-star" type of thing a few times, so intuitively, I think I can pull it off. Another thing is that Capcom told me, "Please make it a Resident Evil that is uniquely Hashimoto's style," so I'm making it a game that emphasizes my own personal touch.
The Levi Feed: As you said, various all-star-like characters from the original Resident Evil are appearing, right? Like Jill and Claire. Even characters who are already dead, like Marvin, are appearing. What users will naturally be curious about is: will there be new side stories or side quests for those characters?
Shinji Hashimoto: So, that's a very delicate aspect that we wanted to explore. Because the Capcom definitely has to maintain their IP and world vision flawlessly. So, we are respecting their guidance, and we also try to bring something new and which hasn't been explored before. So, that's what we all can say for now.
The Levi Feed: For my final question: What do you think players will enjoy the most about the game?
Shinji Hashimoto: Hmm, well, in a way that is typical of me, we've brought in Amano-sensei this time and are aiming for a slightly different story development compared to past Resident Evil games. The past first and second games are wonderful, but Capcom's staff—especially people like Tsujimoto-san and Ryozo-san told me that without "sound," it doesn't feel like Resident Evil. If you just trace the original work, the parts without sound will naturally lower players' expectations. So, I stopped moving the development in that direction and decided to make a strategy game that players can get hooked on even without sound. And this involves new characters. Of course, many Resident Evil characters appear, but there are also Amano-sensei's somewhat unusual characters, so how you fight against the —and also making use of what I like about simulations, where you have to think carefully about your levels, equipment, and strategies to defeat them—is the element that will get people hooked.
That is all for my interview with Shinji Hashimoto! It was an incredibly exciting experience to meet him and get these exclusive details revealed about Resident Evil Survival Unit.
I hope you all enjoyed reading through the interview, and that you will test out Resident Evil Survival Unit for yourselves when it drops.
Huge thanks to everyone involved who helped make this happen for me!