A new report about Capcom's interest in reviving long-dormant properties has sparked hope amongst Dino Crisis fans who remain eager for the franchise's return. Initially designed to inject more "panic horror" into a Resident Evil-like experience, Dino Crisis hit the ground running in 1999 on the original PlayStation. The Shinji Mikami-directed survival adventure swapped Resident Evil's undead menaces for time-hopping dinosaurs, challenging players to take on intelligent threats capable of navigating environments at a much quicker pace.
Two other mainline Dino Crisis titles followed the first, with a couple of oft-forgotten spinoff entries exploring other aspects of the universe. Dino Crisis 2 landed in 2000, its positive reception leading many to believe that Capcom had yet another survival horror hit on its hands. However, Dino Crisis 3 effectively brought such thoughts to a standstill upon its late 2003 release. The light gun shooter, Dino Stalker, and mobile game, Dungeon in Chaos, that launched between the second and third mainline offerings didn't inspire much hope in the brand's future, either. Unfortunately, outside of Dino Crisis' fan-made mods and remakes, the beloved franchise has sat on the sidelines for nigh on two decades.
In a recent investor relations Q&A, relayed by VGC, Capcom executives fielded a question about what the future may hold for unused intellectual properties. The publisher responded with the following comment, "We are currently putting together plans for our pipeline based on-demand data from the market." Capcom then went on to note its intention of taking the community's wishes into consideration while "devising [its] title lineup." It didn't take long for fans to begin expressing their hope that Dino Crisis will eventually see the light of day again. Super Rare Games' Ryan Brown counts among those holding out hope for another Dino Crisis installment. Shinobi602 similarly joined in on the Dino-loving excitement. And Twitter user Hausof94 simply responded to a post related to the Capcom news with, "It better be Dino Crisis."
Interestingly enough, Dino Crisis fans were burned by Capcom earlier this year when the publisher unveiled Exoprimal, an action game about a dinosaur outbreak that features more than a fair few Dino Crisis similarities. The main differentiating factor is Exoprimal's inclusion of high-powered exosuits, which players will presumably don during combat encounters against the prehistoric beasts. For now, though, Capcom keeps concrete details about the title close to its chest.
Hopefully, the publisher does indeed plan on listening to customers. While the likes of Resident Evil and Monster Hunter continue to enjoy rude health on the market, several of its older properties like Dino Crisis, Lost Planet, and Okami haven't seen any action in years. But maybe that much will change in the not-so-distant future.