10 Insanely Cool Ways Video Games Were Revealed
5. KI7CHEN - Resident Evil 7
Capcom pulled a fast one on us with Resident Evil 7's unconventional reveal. The writing should have been on the wall — Resident Evil sits at the top of the studio's horror portfolio after all — but so wildly different from tradition was the sequel's first demo, that nobody cottoned on.
Initially presented as a VR-only experience, Kitchen (stylized as KI7CHEN), as the playable teaser was dubbed, was exclusively first-person, contained no zombies and played out from the perspective of an individual whose name didn't contain Redfield or Kennedy.
It wouldn't be for another year until KI7CHEN, originally presented as a proof-of-concept for the RE Engine, was officially canonized as a precursor to RE7. Funny, considering the former title's use of numerics, intended to be a hint, was never picked up on outside of unnoticed fan theories. A mainline entry in a franchise that had always, up to that point, been a third-person affair, wasn't conceivable.
As it turns out, the first chapter in Ethan Winters' story would be the kick up the backside that Resident Evil needed.