Resident Evil Surprise New Release Spotted, Slated by Gamers

Resident Evil gets a surprise new release, but it has been slated by gamers, and I totally get it.

Capcom’s Resident Evil series is nearing three decades old, with the first game being released on the original PlayStation in 1996. While not the first survival horror game in existence, it most certainly helped make the genre more popular than most.

Sure, as Resident Evil fans, we’ve had our fair share of disappointments, Umbrella Corps and its live-action movies from Paul W.S. Anderson being some examples, but for the most part, we’ve been eating well over the years. We’ve been treated to some amazing games, not only with the original trilogy from 1996 to 1999, but also the most recent entries in the Capcom series with the likes of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village, not to mention the fantastic remakes.

Next year, we’ll be getting the next entry in the Capcom franchise with Resident Evil Requiem, which, going by my hands-on preview, could very well be the scariest game in the series yet.

We Can't Wait For Resident Evil Requiem

In Resident Evil Requiem, we’ll play as Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of the news reporter, Alyssa, from Resident Evil Outbreak. While much of its story remains under wraps at this time, we do know that we’ll be going back to Racoon City for the first time in a mainline entry in nearly 30 years.

At launch, Resident Evil Requiem will have various editions that you can pick up, but one of them will not be available in the UK, or at least we thought.

That edition is ‘Resident Evil Generation Pack’ for the Nintendo Switch 2, which includes Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil Requiem. What’s more, RE7 and RE Village are the ‘Gold Editions’ that include all previously released DLC.

As soon as I checked the Amazon listing for ‘Resident Evil Generation Pack’, my first thought was to check to see if they were Game-Key Cards, which are basically glorified digital codes on a Nintendo Switch 2 cartridge.

Unlike a proper game cartridge, Game-Key Cards require a one-time internet connection to download and play. You can also sell and trade Game-Key Cards. But on principle, when I buy a “physical” Switch game, I want it on that cartridge.

Are Game-Key Cards Really That Bad?

I don’t think Game-Key Cards are as bad as some fear, but for me at least, it’s off-putting that even the packaging for a Switch 2 title will say that no data is stored on the Game-Key Card cartridge.

There’s also an argument that could be made: that should you buy a new Nintendo console, and Nintendo decides to close servers, as it's done with the Wii U and 3DS stores, for example, it might not be possible to re-download the game you “own” onto a new console.

For this reason, as much as I love Resident Evil and collecting its physical games, as well as an ungodly amount of merchandise, I have no interest in picking up the ‘Resident Evil Generation Pack’ on the Switch 2, and it seems that I am not alone.

“Turns out the UK is getting ‘Resident Evil Generation Pack’ for the Switch 2,” shared Redditor Nice-Ad-6395.

“Game-Key Cards in a collector's edition package make me laugh,” exclaimed DiabUK.

“All Game-Key Cards, lmao,” said Texassunmerheat.

Nintendo has stated that the reason why Game-Key Cards exist is that full game data might not be able to fit onto a single cartridge, which is fair, and that could be the case for Resident Evil Requiem.

However, Pokémon Pokopia, which launches on 5 March 2026, will be the first Pokémon game on a Game-Key Card. What’s the problem with that?

The issue that I have is that a Switch 2 cartridge can store about 64Gb of data. Pokémon Pokopia has an estimated size of about 10GB, so why does that game need to be delivered on a Game-Key Card if you want to buy a “physical” copy?

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on 27 February 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.