Some of you are way too hopeful about Piers. Considering he used all that energy to save Chris and shoot Haos one last time, after the fact that he made Chris leave alone, I highly doubt Piers escaped. First of all, why would he? He has no motivation to do so, the guy's a monster, he sacrificed himself, end of story.
As for Chris dying, I think it was a stupid idea from the beginning. I'm glad Capcom pulled out since it was done purely for the shock value and overall would have been lame. They were trying hard to be as dramatic as possible and in the end would have tarnished a great character's legacy by ending him in a game that turned out the way it did with some new guy we're expected like and accept as his replacement. First off, Piers will never replace Chris as he would be nothing more than a cheap knockoff. So why even get rid of Chris if he clearly still has a presence in the series?
Don't get me wrong, I like Piers, but he along with Jake, Helena, and Sheva have no place reappearing in this series. These characters have no history and are nothing more than co-op partners. Out of the four characters listed, only three of them were made or had expanded roles for the wrong reasons, therefore, losing any sort of connection with fans. Chris, Jill, Leon, etc. were there from day one. We got to see them grow and become justified badasses. All these new characters feel flat and forced just to fill the games. What makes Jake so badass and fearless? Not that he's been through sh*t before, he's awesome because Capcom wants him to be. They're gonna slap the Wesker name on him and we're gonna eat it up. F*ck that.