RE Engine
Developer(s)Capcom
Platform
LicenseProprietary

RE Engine, also known as Reach for the Moon Engine,[1][2] is a video game engine created by Capcom. Originally designed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, it has since been used in a variety of the company's games, such as Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise and Street Fighter 6.[3][4][5] The engine is a successor to MT Framework, Capcom's previous engine.[6]

History

RE Engine was created in 2014, during the beginning of the development of Resident Evil 7. The engine was originally designed with the game's linear nature in mind and was created to make game development more efficient.[7] The reason the team did not choose a third-party engine was that "a highly generic engine developed by another company would not be appropriate" for a game like Resident Evil 7.[8] MT Framework was not used for the project due to its slower development tools. Jun Takeuchi, the head of Capcom's Division 1 stated "we had to rethink the way we make games. In order to carry out asset-based (graphic and 3D model elements) development, which is globally the mainstream, we began developing our new RE Engine".[9]

When discussing Monster Hunter Rise, Yasunori Ichinose, the game's director, discussed porting RE Engine to the Nintendo Switch, and said "a lot of background technical engineering work need[ed] to be done just to achieve targeting a new hardware platform", and mentioned the challenge of creating the large maps the team wanted while trying to maintain the game's graphical quality.[10]

In October 2023, Capcom unveiled "Codename REX" (RE neXt ENGINE), their next-generation game engine, during a 22-minute developer-focused presentation. Acknowledging limitations in the current RE Engine, the new engine upgrade will involve incrementally integrating RE+X technology into the existing RE Engine, elevating it to next-generation capabilities.[11][12][13] RE engine games will require GPUs with mesh shaders support for best performance, non mesh shader legacy GPUs will struggle.[14][15][16]

Features

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021)

RE Engine features various improvements over MT Framework, including new anti-aliasing and volumetric lighting features.[17] The engine also allows developers to use photogrammetry to create higher quality assets. It also includes improved VR support over its predecessor, allowing it to hit high framerates necessary to avoid motion sickness.[9] It also includes tools to make animation faster, such as modular rigging, motion matching, procedural animation and motion retargeting.[18][19][20] RE Engine also has various new physics simulation options which allow for more realistic debris.[21]

Games

Games developed using RE Engine
Year Title Ref.
2017 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard [3]
2019 Resident Evil 2 [17]
Devil May Cry 5 [22]
2020 Resident Evil 3 [23]
Resident Evil: Resistance [24]
2021 Capcom Arcade Stadium [25]
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection [26]
Monster Hunter Rise [4]
Resident Evil Village [27]
2022 Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium [28]
Resident Evil Re:Verse [29]
2023 Resident Evil 4 [30]
Street Fighter 6 [31]
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (remaster) [32]
Exoprimal [33]
2024 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy [34]
Dragon's Dogma 2 [35]
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess [36]
2025 Monster Hunter Wilds
TBA Pragmata [37]
Unannounced Ace Attorney project [38]

References

  1. ^ "Capcom's RE Engine Doesn't Stand For "Resident Evil", It's "Reach For The Moon Engine"". TheGamer. April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Capcom Research and Development [@CAPCOM_RandD] (November 7, 2019). "『RE ENGINE』の読み方は知っていても、意味は知らないという方も多いのではないでしょうか？" [Even if you know how to read "RE ENGINE", isn't there a lot of people who don't know what it means? It has several meanings, but "reach for the moon" is the representative origin. It contains the idea of a game engine that makes the impossible possible, like reaching for the moon, but if you look closely, you can see the logo...] (Tweet). Retrieved July 14, 2022 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b "CAPCOM | Developer Interviews 2016 INTERVIEW 03:Jun Takeuchi". CAPCOM IR. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Doolan, Liam (September 19, 2020). "Yes, Monster Hunter Rise Is Running On Capcom's RE Engine". Nintendo Life. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  5. ^ Gwaltney, Javy (May 20, 2019). "Capcom Will Continue To Use The Same Engine That Powered Devil May Cry 5 And Resident Evil 2". Game Informer. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  6. ^ Kim, Matt (May 17, 2019). "Capcom Says RE Engine Will Power Its Next-Gen Game Development, Numerous Titles Already in the Works". USgamer. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  7. ^ "How Is Capcom's RE Engine So Versatile?". Game Informer. July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  8. ^ Capcom (December 22, 2020) [2020]. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Document File. Dark Horse Comics. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-1506721668.
  9. ^ a b "CAPCOM INTEGRATED REPORT 2016" (PDF). 2016. pp. 49–51.
  10. ^ Robinson, Martin (October 6, 2020). "Monster Hunter Rise looks like it'll be the best of both worlds". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "Capcom is Developing a Next-Gen Version of Its RE Engine". Game Rant. October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "Capcom's new REX engine will address "ballooning" game scales and no, that's probably not a Dino Crisis reference". Rock Paper Shotgun. October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  13. ^ "Capcom Develops New REX Game Engine". Anime News Network. October 28, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  14. ^ "Capcom is redesigning RE Engine, used for Resident Evil titles and Street Fighter 6, with next-gen tech". TechSpot. October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  15. ^ "Capcom is working on a next-generation RE Engine successor". PCGamesN. October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "Capcom working on next-gen RE Engine codenamed RE neXt". TweakTown. December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Battaglia, Alex (January 15, 2019). "Resident Evil 2 Remake takes Capcom's RE engine to the next level". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  18. ^ 【CAPCOM RE:2019】技術が⽣み出すゲームアニメーション 〜プロシージャルアニメーション／モーションマッチング〜. CAPCOM R&D. October 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ 【CAPCOM RE:2019】「バイオハザード RE2」における組み技リターゲット技術 [[CAPCOM RE:2019] Retargeting techniques for grappling techniques in 'Resident Evil RE2']. CAPCOM R&D. October 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ 【CAPCOM RE:2019】モジュラーリギング 〜リギングをより効率よく、より簡単に〜 [[CAPCOM RE:2019] Modular Rigging (Easier and Efficient Rigging)]. CAPCOM R&D. October 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ 【CAPCOM RE:2019】「デビルメイクライ5」におけるシミュレーション ～破壊と二次アニメーション～ [[CAPCOM RE:2019] Simulation in 'Devil May Cry 5' (Destruction and secondary animation)]. CAPCOM R&D. October 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ Sarkar, Samit (January 11, 2021). "Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition coming to PS5, Xbox Series X". Polygon. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  23. ^ Byford, Sam (March 30, 2020). "Resident Evil 3 remake is fun while it lasts". The Verge. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  24. ^ Bailey, Dustin (September 12, 2019). "First Project Resistance gameplay, Capcom's 4v1 game built in the RE Engine". PCGamesN. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  25. ^ Gipp, Stuart (February 23, 2021). "Capcom Arcade Stadium: Stadium events". Retronauts. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  26. ^ Linneman, John (February 24, 2021). "Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection: how Switch modernises an arcade icon". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  27. ^ "Resident Evil Village | Xbox". Xbox.com. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  28. ^ Scullion, Chris (July 14, 2022). "Review: Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium dives deep and comes up trumps". VGC. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  29. ^ Wilde, Tyler (January 21, 2021). "Resident Evil Village will include a 6-player deathmatch game called RE:Verse". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  30. ^ Bailey, Dustin (June 2, 2022). "Resident Evil 4 remake release date set for March 24". gamesradar. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  31. ^ Wong, Andy (June 2, 2022). "Street Fighter 6 aims to redefine the fighting genre in 2023". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  32. ^ jmaldonado (June 12, 2023). "Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective runs on the RE Engine". GoNintendo. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  33. ^ "Exoprimal - Developer Overview". YouTube. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  34. ^ Adam, Harith (November 2, 2023). "Behind the Scenes of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy with Producer Kenichi Hashimoto". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  35. ^ Romano, Sal (June 16, 2022). "Dragon's Dogma II announced". Gematsu. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  36. ^ Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess - Reveal Trailer. Capcom USA. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  37. ^ McWhertor, Michael (January 11, 2021). "Capcom's Pragmata delayed to 2023, Square Enix's Project Athia coming in 2022". Polygon. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  38. ^ "Capcom: Ace Attorney series will not be stopping". Nintendo Everything. January 21, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
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