It looks like the folks at Capcom Entertainment were only kidding when they sternly insisted over and over again that the GameCube action-thriller Resident Evil 4 would forever remain exclusive to Nintendo's console. The company on Sunday announced that, due to demand from users and shareholder influences, a PlayStation 2 build of Resident Evil 4 is now also in development.

The GameCube version will release on January 11 of next year in the US and just two weeks later in Japan. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 build is set to debut at the "end of 2005," according to the publisher. The surprise announcement was posted to Capcom's official Japanese website over the weekend. Readers can check out the official release right here.

IGN on Monday morning contacted Capcom USA for further comments and clarification.

"When statements were made regarding GCN exclusivity, they were true at the time they were said. However, it was a recent executive decision from Capcom Japan to begin development of the game for the PS2," a spokesperson for the company maintained.

"In order to satisfy the demands from Resident Evil fans and Capcom's desire to introduce the series to new gamers worldwide, the decision was made to bring the title to PS2."

"The GameCube version will release on January 11th for the US. All efforts are focused on making the GCN game as big a success as possible. Also, gamers will only be able to play RE4 on the GCN for quite a while, so we encourage people to enjoy the exclusivity period."

Asked if the under-development PS2 version of RE4 would be dramatically different from the GCN one, Capcom said: "The PS2 version is currently in development so we can not comment on specifics at this time. However, Capcom's development team will certainly strive to maximize the special characteristics of the PS2 hardware as they develop the game for that system."

Capcom is not slamming the door on other, future ports, either. "The possibility of Resident Evil 4 coming to the Xbox has yet to be determined," a company rep replied when quizzed on the subject.

Resident Evil 4 stars franchise hero Leon S. Kennedy on an all-new quest to save the President's kidnapped daughter from a European threat. When Kennedy travels to an isolated village, he finds himself attacked by hordes of zombie-like villagers and smack-dab in the middle of an evil plot involving ungodly creatures, dark monks and a dangerous virus. The game's cutting-edge graphics and ambient atmosphere have won it acclaim from critics ever since it was unveiled more than a year ago. Source: IGN