Resident Evil 5 - Gold Edition and Downloadable Content

Gold Edition and Downloadable Content

Shortly before the release of Resident Evil 5, it was announced that a competitive multiplayer mode, titled Versus, would be available for download in the coming weeks. It was later announced that the content would cost less in Japan than in the rest of the world, but that the release date for Japan had been pushed back to April 9, 2009. On April 6, 2009 Capcom announced that Versus would be available to download in Europe and North America on April 7, 2009 on both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network. The Versus content contains two different online game types. Slayers is a point-based game that challenges players to kill Majini, while in Survivors players must hunt each other while dodging attacking Majini. Players may also play Team Survivors or Team Slayers in which there are four players, two on each side. Versus is a four player, online only, mode.

During Sony's press conference at the Tokyo Game Show 2009, Capcom announced that Biohazard 5: Alternative Edition would be released in Japan in Spring 2010 exclusively for the PlayStation 3. This version includes a new scenario titled "Lost in Nightmares", where protagonists Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine infiltrate one of Spencer's estates in 2006. Capcom has announced that the new content will be released in DLC format for Australia, Europe and America.

A western version of Biohazard 5: Alternative Edition was announced for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the form of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. Gold Edition includes the "Lost In Nightmares" episode. It was announced that the Gold Edition would include another campaign expansion called "Desperate Escape." In this episode players control Josh Stone and Jill Valentine as they journey to assist Chris and Sheva. Gold Edition also includes the previously released Versus mode DLC, four new costumes, and an alternate Mercenaries mode, "The Mercenaries Reunion." Mercenaries Reunion features eight new playable characters as well as new item and time placement for the Mercenaries levels.

On December 10, a video was released revealing the first two Mercenaries Reunion characters: Warrior Chris and Fairytale Sheva. On December 16, 2009, Famitsu magazine revealed the first screenshots of the "Desperate Escape" episode, as well as three more characters for Mercenaries Reunion: Heavy Metal Chris, Business Suit Sheva and Josh Stone. Excella Gionne was announced as another playable character in Famitsu. According to Famitsu, Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton are confirmed to be the final playable characters.

Alternatively, for those who did not purchase the Gold Edition, both episodes as well as both costume packs are available as downloadable content (DLC), with two of the eight new Mercenaries Reunion characters bundled with each downloadable item. This means that by buying all five sets of DLC, players will then own all of the content on the disc. However, this only applies to the PlayStation 3 version, due to the fact that the Xbox 360 version will not contain DLC on the disc. The Xbox 360 Gold comes with a download token, allowing for a free download of all of the DLC while the PlayStation 3 Gold Edition has all of the new content on disc.

The disc was released in the United States on March 9, 2010, and in Europe on March 12. The DLC release dates were as follows: "Lost in Nightmares" and the first costume pack were available for download on February 17, 2011, for the Xbox 360 and February 18 for the PlayStation 3, while "Desperate Escape", the second episode, and costume pack were released on March 3 for the Xbox 360 and March 4 for PlayStation 3. On November 7, 2012, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition was put onto PlayStation Network as a free download for PlayStation Plus users for the month of November.