This Summer, one of the biggest pieces of arcade news to emerge was the surprise appearance of a Resident Evil 2 arcade lightgun game from Bandai Namco that quietly showed up on test in the UK. After we were the first to report on it, numerous major gaming news outlets then gave the game attention, even going as far as revealing the test location. At that point we were told that it would still take a long time to release by our contact at Bandai Namco, but in the meantime, they and Capcom have now decided to officially reveal Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot (as well as its upcoming location test windows in other territories) under its new Japanese title at Tokyo Game Show 2025. Let’s take a closer look…
Biohazard RE:2 Arcade/Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot Officially Announced
In the normal course of arcade announcements, arcade manufacturers and developers tend to wait until a major arcade trade show to announce their games – sometimes not even issuing a press release, they just show up with a cabinet or two. Some examples of IP used for them are big enough that it garners attention easily, though, and Capcom’s Resident Evil series is certainly among those examples.
At this year’s Tokyo Game Show (which is mostly focused on consoles and PCs, but does have the occasional arcade exhibit or announcement), Bandai Namco and Capcom have taken that opportunity to officially tell the world that this game exists, naturally under its Japanese name of Biohazard RE:2 Arcade. They did so in conjunction with the 30th anniversary event for the series, and in the course of announcing various projects, they obviously had no problem bringing up this new arcade entry. They even have blessed us with a preview trailer, which is also unusual for an arcade game that’s still a ways off:
But that’s not all. Within the information, they unveiled more location tests, including one coming soon for North America this Winter, although at the moment it is unknown exactly when and that will take place. This is quoted from the auto-translate of the story at 4Gamer.net:
Bandai Namco Experience has also started a new arcade game project based on “Resident Evil RE:2”. It’s an immersive gun shooting game where you shoot creatures that appear one after another, and the air jets and floor vibrating gimmicks allow you to experience fear with your whole body. A location test will be held in North America in the winter of 2025, and a location test in Japan in the spring of 2026.
The whole test sequence for this has been pretty unusual: first an unannounced test in the UK, then soon here in the States, then Japan, as opposed to the other way around. I would wager it suddenly being announced here has something to do with how that first test garnered a lot of interest online, since as I had been told when inquiring about the game, it did sound like it would be something coming along well into 2026 or even later (whether that means a summer release or later is unclear at this point). However, if they hold the current pattern, then it is possible that it will launch in the West first, then go East last.
Additional confirmation of this announcement is here, although it is generally in line with what 4Gamer reported. If you haven’t seen footage of the location test gameplay, see below, but keep in mind – chances are that there will be various changes to the game from what was seen there vs. the final product.
Does this mean that the game will be at IAAPA 2025? It wasn’t sounding like it from the information we had been given, but perhaps things have changed after the testing in the UK went down. It still may be too far off for Bandai Namco to want to promote it at a show like that, as they may hold it for EAG or Amusement Expo 2026; but they also did show off GoldStorm Pirates at IAAPA 2024, and that didn’t reach production until spring/summer of this year. As such, I’ll file that into the “maybe” column until we hear more.
What do you think of Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot/Biohazard RE:2 Arcade being announced?
