Resident Evil 6 debut moved up to October 2

Capcom has revised the release date for Resident Evil 6 from November 20 to October 2. The new, earlier date was announced at Capcom's annual Captivate showcase event, where executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said the decision was based on positive fan reaction to January's announcement trailer for the game, in which the originally intended November release date was revealed.

Resident Evil 6 now out October 2.

The enthusiastic reception for the trailer made Capcom want to get the game into players' hands earlier, says Kobayashi-san, so it proposed to the development team the idea of bringing the game out ahead of the original schedule. Capcom has around 600 people working on Resident Evil 6, it says, with 150 of those in-house staff.

The new launch date at the start of October also means Resident Evil 6 will beat most of 2012's big autumn releases (such as Assassin's Creed III and BioShock Infinite) to market.

The globe-trotting new Resident Evil will take place in the US and a fictional Eastern European country, with China as the main location, and stars series stalwarts Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield, plus cynical mercenary Jake Muller, son of one Albert Wesker. For more details, see our first impressions of Resident Evil 6.