Capcom announced today that the long-awaited follow-up to its popular survival horror franchise, which was originally scheduled to appear only on the GameCube console, is also headed to Sony's PlayStation 2.

The PS2 version of Resident Evil 4 is currently slated to be released at the end of 2005 in Japan, the US, and Europe. The GameCube version is still scheduled for a January 2005 release in the US and Japan, followed by a spring release in Europe.

In a statement released today, Capcom revealed that the decision to make Resident Evil 4 go cross-platform was based on requests from fans worldwide, in addition to market considerations and shareholder requests. The statement also made mention that each version of the game will be developed to take advantage of the strengths of its intended platform.

In September 2001, Capcom held a press conference in Tokyo to announce that the Resident Evil series would thereafter be released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. Capcom first produced a visually overhauled remake of the very first Resident Evil title, which was originally released for the PlayStation in the mid-'90s, and followed suit with a brand-new prequel called Resident Evil 0 and ports of Resident Evil 2, 3, and Code: Veronica.

However, as soon as the deal was cemented between Capcom and Nintendo, cracks started to appear. Early in 2002, Capcom announced that an online Resident Evil title, Resident Evil: Outbreak, was exclusively headed to the PlayStation 2. Later that year, the publisher seemed to reaffirm its relationship with Nintendo when it announced four more GameCube-exclusive games alongside Resident Evil 4. Then, one of them, Dead Phoenix, was canceled, and PS2 versions of two of the other games, Viewtiful Joe and Killer 7, were subsequently announced. Nevertheless, if Capcom sticks to the current release plan, Resident Evil 4 will remain exclusive to the GameCube hardware for roughly one year.