Summary

• Resident Evil 5 received a new ESRB rating, prompting fan speculation it could be making a comeback in some form.
• The rating only mentions an Xbox Series X/S version of the game. RE5 is already playable on Microsoft's current-gen consoles, but only through backward compatibility, as there is no native version.
• Similar ESRB ratings were recently published for RE6, RE7, and RE Origins Collection.

Resident Evil 5 received a new age rating, suggesting it could be making a comeback in some shape or form. However, its renewed classification only mentions one particular version of the Xbox 360-era Resident Evil game.

March 13 will mark the 16th anniversary of Resident Evil 5 releasing for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America and Europe. Half a year following its console debut, the fifth mainline entry in the series also made its way to PC in September 2009. Although speculation about Capcom working on a remake has long been circulating online, no such project has yet materialized.

On February 10, the Entertainment Software Rating Board published another Resident Evil 5 age classification, as noted by Twitter user Wario64. The new entry in the ESRB database attaches an M (17+) rating to the game, which is consistent with its prior classifications. One peculiar detail about the new label is that it only lists the Xbox Series X and Series S under the game's platforms. While this has already sparked some fan speculation about Capcom possibly working on a native version of Resident Evil 5 for Microsoft's current-gen consoles, that might not necessarily be the case.

ESRB Recently Published Multiple New Ratings for Older Resident Evil Games

Several other older Resident Evil games also had their ESRB ratings renewed since the turn of the year. This list includes Resident Evil 6, 7, and Resident Evil Origins Collection, a bundle with HD remasters of Resident Evil Zero and Resident Evil 1. All of these ratings, published in late January 2025, have also exclusively listed the corresponding games as Xbox Series X/S titles. It's hence possible that the newly surfaced Resident Evil 5 classification is merely a case of the ESRB updating a rating.

The theory that these ratings could point to an Xbox Series X/S-native version of corresponding games also isn't consistent with the recently renewed Resident Evil 7 classification. Specifically, the seventh numbered entry in the franchise has already received a version for Microsoft's current-gen consoles back in 2022. And while none of this rules out the possibility of Resident Evil 5 making some kind of comeback in the near future, if the newly surfaced rating hinted at a remake or remaster, it would likely mention more platforms than just the Xbox Series X/S.

Although there's been no shortage of Resident Evil 5 remake speculation in recent years, it's unclear whether such a project is already in the works. Leaker Dusk Golem has repeatedly claimed that Capcom is presently pursuing remakes of both Resident Evil Zero and Code Veronica. If this information is accurate, it casts doubt on the possibility that the company is also developing a RE5 remake in parallel, in addition to the next mainline entry in the series.