Capcom is preparing for what it describes as a future where games are created together with AI. According to The Verge, the Japanese publisher laid out its plans during a presentation on the future of its RE Engine at the Capcom Open Conference RE: 2026.
Programmer Satoshi Ishida delivered the talk, titled "The Outlook and Future of the REX Project, Further Evolving the RE Engine for the Next Generation." He described the challenges of producing games at the scale of Resident Evil, where even simple tasks can become extremely time consuming, and named AI as part of the solution. The company says the goal is efficiency in development workflows — not AI-made content inside its games.
Capcom's plan for the RE Engine and AI
Ishida said the answer is "successfully integrating AI technology into development workflows," according to The Verge. The plan is to turn the RE Engine slowly and incrementally into what he called an "AI-generation game engine," building toward "a future where we create games together with AI," based on IGN's translation of the remarks.
The wording is careful: Capcom has previously said it will not use AI-generated assets in its games, and would instead focus on using the technology to speed up development. Ishida's comments appear to line up with that position, though The Verge notes they leave the door open to more extensive use down the line.
What Capcom actually said — and what it didn't
This is not a product announcement, and Capcom did not share a timeline, a specific game, or examples of AI tools it plans to deploy. The presentation was about internal development technology, not consumer-facing features.
It is also worth separating the message from the messenger's own fiction: Capcom's upcoming game Pragmata is built around the horrors of AI, while the company's engineering team is now openly courting it for production. The contrast drew attention, but the two things are unrelated projects.
