Resident Evil Village Demo: When and How to Play

The Resident Evil Village demo fans have been waiting on is finally arriving on Saturday – or at [...]

The Resident Evil Village demo fans have been waiting on is finally arriving on Saturday – or at least the first one is. Capcom has several demos planned that will be accessible to different groups of people depending on what platform you're playing on with PlayStation owners benefitting the most from the trial runs. There are some restrictions in place on the demos, however, so if you want to make the most of your time in Resident Evil Village, you'll need to know how and when you can play.

Exclusivity in demos based on the platform played on isn't unheard of, but Capcom's Resident Evil Village demos have another catch: They're all timed, and each one is only available for a short window of time before it's gone. Assuming players don't employ any workarounds to get more time, they'll be able to play for a total of one hour on non-PlayStation platforms or two hours on PlayStation consoles with each demo scheduled a week apart from one another.

The "how" part of the question is thankfully much easier than the "when." There's no need to pre-order anything for these demos since all you'll have to do is download them as soon as they're available on your platform's store so that you're ready to play as soon as it's your time to do so.

Even knowing all that, it's still a more confusing process than people are probably used to when it comes to demos. We've broken down the demos below to explain which one happens on which day, who'll be able to play in it, and how long they'll have.

First Demo – Village

  • What: A demo of the Village area of Resident Evil Village
  • When: April 17th at 5 p.m. PDT
  • Who: PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users
  • How Long: You can play for 30 minutes, but the demo itself is only available for an 8-hour window.

This first demo will let players explore the village area of the game, so it'll look much different form what we've seen in the Maiden demo. Here, players will likely come across some of the village inhabitants we've seen in the game's trailers and perhaps the lycans which seem to inhabit the area. Perhaps you'll also get a taste of the game's hunting system if it's been implemented in the demo.

Second Demo – Castle

  • What: A demo of the Castle area of Resident Evil Village
  • When: April 24th at 5 p.m. PDT
  • Who: PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users
  • How Long: You can play for 30 minutes, but the demo itself is only available for an 8-hour window.

After experiencing what it's like to be in the village area, it's time to head back to Lady Dimitrescu's domain in the second trial whenever players are sent back to the castle. This is where players will likely get their more traditional, claustrophobic Resident Evil experience where you explore the inside of the castle that towers over the village.

Final Demo – Village & Castle

  • What: A demo of the Castle and Village areas of Resident Evil Village
  • When: May 1st at 5 p.m. PDT
  • Who: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam and Google Stadia users
  • How Long: You can play for one hour, but the demo itself is only available for a 24-hour window.

The third and final Resident Evil Village demo takes place just under a week before the game's May 7th release date. For those on platforms other than PlayStations who've been waiting for their shot, this will be the demo you can try out, but you've only got an hour. The good news is that this demo makes both the castle and village areas accessible, so if you want to split your time evenly or spend it all in one place, you're free to pursue either option. Players will undoubtedly find ways to replay the demos through new accounts or other methods, but if you're not planning on messing with that, you'll at least be able to watch other people's playthroughs when they're shared online to reveal anything you might've missed.

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