Resident Evil and Street Fighter developer Capcom revealed some major changes to their RE Engine, which they plan to gradually improve and transform into an “AI generation game engine.” On October 2, Capcom held its own technology conference, called ‘Capcom Open Conference RE: 2026’. One of the most notable takeaways from this event was a presentation by programmer Satoshi Ishida, titled “The Prospects and Future of the REX Project, Further Evolving the RE Engine for the Next Generation.” The purpose of this presentation was to describe several important changes coming to RE Engine, which will be presented in the form of a multi-step enhancement project called ‘REX’. As reported by Japanese news outlet GameBiz, Ishida mentioned three major problems that Capcom is currently experiencing when it comes to game development: first, games are now so massive that simple processes have become extremely slow; More staff means you need an engine that is easy for everyone to use; and finally, “successfully integrating AI technology into development workflows has become an essential condition for streamlining future development.” Resident Evil Requiem – Performance Screenshots The GameBiz report confirmed that REX was created to help solve these issues by improving game development efficiency, game performance, tools, quality control, etc. Capcom felt that rather than creating an entirely new engine from scratch, gradually adding these improvements over time is the best way to help evolve the RE engine into the next generation. in the weeds of all the specific improvements included in the REX program, but Capcom is making at least some of them open source for the purposes of training AI. Most interestingly, the AI contributes to Capcom’s broader, long-term goal of turning the RE Engine into an “AI generation game engine” using its REX improvements. GameBiz stated that REX unifies the entire RE Engine system under the “world’s most common programming language,” meaning it is equally easier for humans to use and easier for AI to understand. Capcom’s goal is to build a future where it “creates games together with AI”; Taking REX into account, this seems to mean that Capcom is using artificial intelligence to speed up and streamline certain processes to facilitate development, not necessarily to generate wholesale assets or artwork. In the past, Capcom has been publicly reluctant to use AI to create assets, but confirmed that it will use artificial intelligence as a tool to optimize the way it creates games. “We will not implement AI-generated assets in our games.” Said Capcom at a March 2026 shareholder meeting. “However, we plan to use it proactively as a technology that contributes to improving the efficiency and productivity of the game development process. To this end, we are currently exploring ways to implement it in several areas, including graphics, sound and programming.” This year alone, Capcom has produced three critically acclaimed titles: Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, along with two film adaptations of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil and Legendary’s Street Fighter film, which will be released in theaters on October 16, 2026. Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on gaming and entertainment, he has experience in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
