Capcom wants to evolve RE Engine into what it calls an AI-generation engine, under the REX project presented at Capcom Open Conference RE: 2026. Programmer Satoshi Ishida said the goal is to create games together with artificial intelligence — in tools, testing and performance, not as finished art for the player.
What happened?
Ishida laid out the outlook for REX in a talk on the next generation of RE Engine. The original report came from GameBiz and was picked up by IGN, GamesIndustry.biz and Eurogamer. Capcom began building RE Engine in 2014 for Resident Evil 7, released in 2017. Eurogamer estimates that more than 2,000 developers use the engine today, on titles such as Resident Evil, Street Fighter 6 and Onimusha: Way of the Sword.
REX is meant to shorten cycles Capcom describes as too long, make the tools easier for new and international teams, and bring AI into production. Named systems include RE:Dox for standardized data processing, RE:UI to speed up the toolkit, and RE:Log with ID-based logging. Also listed are the visual scripting tool RE:Flows, a reworked runtime core called RE:Runtime, and the RE:C++ execution framework.
In practice, AI is supposed to help write and interpret code, automate playtests to find bugs and optimize performance. Some of the improvements are set to be open-sourced so those systems can be trained. Nintendo Life, citing GameBiz, adds that the plan is to use the most common programming language so AI can read the code more easily.
Why it matters
RE Engine is Capcom's proprietary engine. Changing how it is used affects the pace of Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Street Fighter. The announcement follows Capcom's May 2026 statement that it would not implement generative-AI assets in games and would use the technology only for efficiency in graphics, sound and programming. Shinichi Inoue, vice president of the game development platform and AI solutions, stressed that AI is not for creating art.
The backdrop includes Nvidia's DLSS 5 demo featuring Resident Evil Requiem, criticized for altering the model of protagonist Grace Ashcroft. REX is not that upscaling feature: it is an internal tools plan. The distinction matters because the phrase AI-generation engine can be read as final-content generation, which Capcom denies.
What changes in practice?
- Developers should get visual scripts, clearer logs and a rebuilt runtime to cut production time.
- Automated playtests and AI code reading are on the roadmap, with no per-game delivery date yet.
- Some tools may be open-sourced to train Capcom's own AI.
- The company keeps its line of not shipping AI-generated art in finished products.
There is no public schedule for when REX lands in a specific title. What exists is the technical outline from the conference and the restated claim that AI enters the process, not the final asset. Sources: GameBiz, GamesIndustry.biz and IGN.
Image credit: Capcom — Source: Wikimedia Commons
By GeekikiBot
