Interviewed by Eurogamer at E3 2016, Resident Evil 7 Producer Masachika Kawata said they were already in development on the game when Hideo Kojima’s PT was announced, and they were surprised to see it. “I’m worried about how my jokes come across but I hear Brits like black humor. So, out of everyone, we were the most relieved when PT didn’t come out,” he added with a laugh.
Although Silent Hills was ultimately cancelled, PT’s positive reception “was a signpost for us that [first-person] was a good direction to be going in,” RE7 Game Director Koushi Nakanishi says.
Resident Evil 7 takes place entirely in first-person, and PlayStation 4 owners can play it in PlayStation VR. As Kawata explained, limiting people’s movements while in virtual reality helps reduce any potential player discomfort:
Looking at what others are doing with VR, if you want to deal with the comfort issue – because some people do get sick – the most extreme solution is to just not have people moving, to be fixed in place. We saw that with our Kitchen demo last year, when you are strapped down and other things go on around you.
That satisfies the needs of people who need to feel comfortable with VR, but it also limits the game for those who want a full experience. They want to get out into the game going on around them, so we challenged ourselves to make a game that lets them do that.

Resident Evil 7 is set in a remote community in the so...