Resident Evil 5 producer stepping away from series

Capcom hasn't officially announced a Resident Evil 6 yet, but it's almost certainly coming, and the producer behind last year's hit Resident Evil 5 wants nothing to do with it. In an interview with Xbox World 360 magazine (as summarized by sister-site CVG), Capcom general manager of R&D strategic planning Jun Takeuchi said he isn't planning on being involved in the next installment.

"Personally, I don't think I'm gonna deal with Resident Evil 6 at all," Takeuchi told the magazine. "As far as the series is concerned, I'm not planning to return until at least two more Olympics have passed!"

As for why he might want to step away from the hit survival horror series, Takeuchi told the magazine it was particularly difficult following Shinji Mikami's critically acclaimed reinvention of the franchise, Resident Evil 4.

"Yes, it's true we did feel extreme pressure--and Mikami-san's shadow--after Resi 4," Takeuchi was quoted as saying. "However, because we were creating the sequel to this huge franchise, we wanted to make our fresh direction clear."

Most recently, Takeuchi served as producer on Lost Planet 2, which launches May 11 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (a PC version is expected to follow this fall). The sci-fi action series is apparently a more comfortable fit for Takeuchi, as he has handled it since its inception, serving as producer on the original Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for the Xbox 360.