RE Engine

Logo of the RE Engine.

The RE Engine is a gaming engine developed by Capcom. Initially built for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, it has since appeared in several Capcom games, mainly those within the Resident Evil franchise.

The "RE" is the first two letters of the engine's full name, "Reach for the moon", which the logo appropriately shows.

Games

• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• Resident Evil 2
• Devil May Cry 5
• Resident Evil 3
• Resident Evil Resistance
• Capcom Arcade Stadium
• Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Resident Evil Village
• Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium
• Resident Evil Re:Verse
• Resident Evil 4
• Street Fighter 6
• Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Remaster)
• Exoprimal
• Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
• Dragon's Dogma 2
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Pragmata
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

Overview

Unlike its predecessor, the MT Framework, the RE Engine includes a variety of new graphical and rendering techniques such as Subsurface Scattering (a shader method used to produce highly realistic human skin), Dynamic shadows, FXAA + TAA, Shadow cache, moreover, rendering techniques include the ability to output 4K Resolution, HDR, a VR specific mode, among others.

Dante's 3D photoshoot (body) for Devil May Cry 5. The costumes the characters wear in the game are crafted in real life then 3D scanned with the actor cast as the face model wearing it.

On the other hand, the RE Engine enabled the developers to have photorealistic rendering and realistic shading. Characters, clothing and objects are scanned via a 3D photoshoot. According to Capcom's 2018 Annual Report, the latest facial technology developed by the Serbian company called 3Lateral was used for the character expressions in Devil May Cry 5. Also in the same game, models were cast in England for the main characters and real costumes were created from scratch, after makeup is applied, the models cast for each character are scanned as 3D objects while wearing the costumes.

For Devil May Cry 5, the clothing in particular were created in London and scanned in Serbia. Making Nero's new jacket alone cost as much as a small car, however his accessories were not scanned. The Devil May Cry van in the game took more than a year to make, the developers would even joke at the van feeling like a character due to how much time they spent on it, additionally, the writing on the van is the artist's own handwriting, including the blue neon sign.

The engine itself differs from its predecessor in terms of file formats and the whole game data is packed into a .PAK archive, making modifications a bit less comfortable.

Further notes

• The RE Engine logo was registered in the EU in February 2017 and it set to expire in September 2026.

See also

• RE Engine at the Devil May Cry Wiki.

Gallery

Images

Mia sports a modeled mesh hair with hair texture filtering to give it more of a natural look - something never done in previous games.

Photorealistic in-game screenshot of the Baker's main house in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

The real outfit worn by Claire made and scanned for the Resident Evil 2 remake.

The real outfit worn by Leon made and scanned for the Resident Evil 2 remake.

The blue neon sign on the van in Devil May Cry 5 is the artist's own handwriting.

Eduard Badaluta's photoshoot for the RE:2 remake (face), and a comparison between his face and the finished Leon model.