A fan remake of the 1998 survival horror game Resident Evil 2, the second entry in what would turn out to be one of the biggest franchises in video games, was canned by original developer Capcom recently.
Capcom, who developed the original series beginning with Resident Evil in 1996, contacted independent game developer, InvaderGames, and requested for their project "Resident Evil 2 Reborn" to be cancelled.
"First of all we want to thank all of you for the passion and the attachment that you have daily shown us. We'll be always grateful," wrote InvaderGames on their Facebook page.
"After the official announcement of the Resident Evil 2 remake by Capcom, we officialise the end of the works on Resident Evil 2 Reborn."
InvaderGames has been working on this for several years now, as a venture love for the game, but Capcom's announcement to remake the game officially has put an end to their project.
Resident Evil 2 Reborn gained mass attention within the video game community in late July when a gameplay trailer featuring the game's protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy, was uploaded on the internet showing the game's initial scenes.
Kennedy, wearing his original Raccoon Police Department uniform, could be seen making his trek from a burning minibus to the memorable ammunitions store and finally to RPD headquarters in glorious high definition.
The fan-made gameplay trailer ran off Unreal Engine 4 and showcased an incredibly smooth framerate, as well as an over-the-shoulder camera angle which was introduced in Resident Evil 4 and onwards.
Yet while their independent project had been scrapped, it wasn't exactly a damper on the indie dev. It was learned that the studio was officially invited by Capcom to 'discuss further ideas.'
"We're honored to announce that we've been officially invited to meet Capcom," said the dev.
"Capcom called us up in advance of the announcement and asked us if we would mind stopping the project as they had longer term plans for a Resident Evil 2 remake. They have invited us to a meeting to discuss further ideas."
Capcom created Resident Evil on the original Playstation in the 90's, which then gave birth to the ever popular survival horror genre -- one of the most successful segments in all of video gaming.
The Resident Evil series depicts a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead after a biochemical virus developed by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation infected the entire human population, turning everyone into zombies save for a few select people.
It was unspecified whether or not InvaderGames themselves will be tapped to work on the official Capcom remake, but the indie dev was grateful nonetheless, referring to the opportunity as "the biggest professional chance that we could get."