Resident Evil Village: The Merchant’s Quest

With the launch of Resident Evil Village, Capcom needed to reach players outside of its survival horror niche. Although Resident Evil is a beloved brand with a 25-year legacy and a dedicated cult following, in order to achieve aggressive sales goals, they had to find a way to attract action-adventure gamers who might be averse to a total horror experience.

To give players a feel for Resident Evil Village without spoiling any of its content, Nomadic crafted a week-long alternate reality game (ARG) called the Merchant’s Quest. The ARG told the story of a humble village merchant in need of help to restore a collection of valuable books—inviting players to work together to aid him by solving intricate puzzles similar to the challenges in Resident Evil Games. Reddit served as the hub, with clues hidden in images, videos, audio, and other multimedia sprinkled around the internet.