'Resident Evil 7' release date news 2016: Game set for 2017 launch? Return to 'horror roots' confirmed

According to recent reports, the release of the hotly anticipated game "Resident Evil 7" could be delayed until next year to make way for the release of "Resident Evil 2 Remake."

While various outlets have reported that both "Resident Evil 7" and "Resident Evil 2 Remake" will be launched at this month's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and are scheduled to be released later this year, NSEA Voice theorizes that "Resident Evil 7" may not hit store shelves until 2017.

According to the website, it is unlikely that Capcom will release two major video game installments so close to each other this year, as it could be an unwise business move.

The way NSEA Voice sees it, both "Resident Evil 7" and "Resident Evil 2 Remake" will be launched at E3. But while the remake will be released later this year, the "Resident Evil 7" release will be shelved until 2017.

Apart from spacing out the release dates, this schedule should also give Capcom more time to work on "Resident Evil 7," including, perhaps, updating the game's graphics and adding new elements.

Meanwhile, an industry analyst has confirmed that unlike recent releases in the "Resident Evil" franchise, "Resident Evil 7" will be going down a more familiar path.

In a series of Twitter posts in May, Dr. Serkan Toto, the CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games, told fans that "Resident Evil 7" will be going back to its horror roots and that it is being treated as a clean slate.

It should be noted that while the "Resident Evil" series of survival video games started out in the survival horror genre, it later evolved to feature more genres and became more of a third-person shooter game with greater emphasis on the guns and weapons.

Toto wrote: "1) About Resident Evil 7: Yes, it's in development. The entire game will go back to RE's horror roots and (essentially) be a clean slate."

"They will show it at E3. The RE7 team hired Jordan Amaro, a designer who previously worked on MGS V and P. T. at Kojima Productions," he added in a separate tweet.

Capcom has not announced the official release date for "Resident Evil 7."