Resident Evil
Resident Evil, known as Biohazard in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person games, with players typically surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other mutated creatures. The franchise has expanded into media including a live-action film series, animated films, television series, comic books, novels, audiobooks, and merchandise. Resident Evil is among the highest-grossing horror franchises.
The first Resident Evil game was created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara for PlayStation, and released in 1996. It is credited for defining the survival horror genre and returning zombies to popular culture. With Resident Evil 4, the franchise shifted to more dynamic shooting action, popularizing the now-ubiquitous "over-the-shoulder" third-person view in action-adventure games.
The franchise returned to survival horror with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village, which used a first-person perspective. Capcom has also released four Resident Evil remakes: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil is Capcom's best-selling franchise and the best-selling horror game series, with over copies sold worldwide as of March 2025. The ninth main game, Resident Evil Requiem, is scheduled for release on February 27, 2026.
The first Resident Evil film was released in 2002, starring Milla Jovovich. It was followed by five sequels and a reboot, Welcome to Raccoon City. The films received mostly negative reviews, but have grossed more than $1.2 billion, making Resident Evil the third-highest-grossing video game film series.
History
The development of the first Resident Evil, released as Biohazard in Japan, began in 1993 when Capcom's Tokuro Fujiwara told Shinji Mikami and other co-workers to create a game using elements from Fujiwara's 1989 game Sweet Home on the Family Computer in Japan. When in late 1994 marketing executives were setting up to release Biohazard in the United States, it was pointed out that securing the rights to the name Biohazard would be very difficult as a DOS game had been registered under that name, as well as a New York hardcore punk band called Biohazard. A contest was held among company personnel to choose a new name; this competition turned up Resident Evil, the name under which it was released in the west. Resident Evil made its debut on the PlayStation in 1996 and was later ported to the Sega Saturn.The first entry in the series was the first game to be dubbed a "survival horror", a term coined for the new genre it initiated, and its critical and commercial success led to the production of two sequels, Resident Evil 2 in 1998 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999, both for the PlayStation. A port of Resident Evil 2 was released for the Nintendo 64. In addition, ports of all three were released for Windows. The next big game in the series, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, was developed for the Dreamcast and released in 2000, followed by ports of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was later re-released for Dreamcast in Japan in an updated form as Code: Veronica Complete, which included slight changes, many of which revolved around story cutscenes. This updated version was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube as Code: Veronica X.
Despite earlier announcements that the next game in the series would be released for the PlayStation 2, which resulted in the creation of an unrelated game, Devil May Cry, Mikami decided to make the series exclusively for the GameCube. The next three games in the series—a remake of the original Resident Evil and the prequel Resident Evil Zero, both released in 2002, as well as Resident Evil 4 —were all released initially as GameCube exclusives. Resident Evil 4 was later released for Windows, PlayStation 2, and Wii.
A trilogy of GunCon-compatible light gun games known as the Gun Survivor series featured first-person gameplay. The first, Resident Evil Survivor, was released in 2000 for the PlayStation and PC but received mediocre reviews. The subsequent games, Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica and Resident Evil: Dead Aim, fared somewhat better. Dead Aim is the fourth Gun Survivor game in Japan, with Gun Survivor 3 being the Dino Crisis spin-off Dino Stalker. In a similar vein, the Chronicles series features first-person gameplay, albeit on an on-rails path. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was released in 2007 for the Wii, with a sequel, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles released in 2009.
Resident Evil Outbreak is an online game for the PlayStation 2, released in 2003, depicting a series of episodic storylines in Raccoon City set during the same period as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. It was the first in the series and the first survival horror game to feature cooperative gameplay. It was followed by a sequel, Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2. Raccoon City is a metropolis located in the Arklay Mountains of the Midwestern United States that succumbed to the deadly T-virus outbreak and was consequently destroyed via a nuclear missile attack issued by the United States government. The town served as a critical junction for the series' progression as one of the main catalysts to Umbrella's downfall and the entry point for some of the series' most notable characters.
Resident Evil Gaiden is an action-adventure game for the Game Boy Color featuring a role-playing-style combat system. There have been several downloadable mobile games based on the Resident Evil series in Japan. Some of these mobile games have been released in North America and Europe through T-Mobile. At the Sony press conference during E3 2009, Resident Evil Portable was announced for the PlayStation Portable, described as a new game being developed with "the PSP Go in mind" and "totally different for a Resident Evil game". No further announcements have been made, and the game is considered to have been canceled.
In 2009, Resident Evil 5 was released for PlayStation 3, Windows and Xbox 360, becoming the best selling game of the franchise despite mixed fan reception. Capcom revealed the third-person shooter Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, which was developed by Slant Six Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows and released in March 2012. A survival horror game for the Nintendo 3DS, Resident Evil: Revelations, was released in February 2012. In October of the same year, the next numbered entry in the main series, Resident Evil 6, was released to mixed reviews, but enthusiastic pre-order sales.
In 2013, producer Masachika Kawata said the Resident Evil franchise would return to focus on elements of horror and suspense over action, adding that "survival horror as a genre is never going to be on the same level, financially, as shooters and much more popular, mainstream games. At the same time, I think we need to have the confidence to put money behind these projects, and it doesn't mean we can't focus on what we need to do as a survival horror game to meet fan's needs." Resident Evil: Revelations 2, an episodic game set between Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6, was released in March 2015. A series of team-based multiplayer games were developed beginning with the poorly received Umbrella Corps, which was released in June 2016. Resident Evil: Resistance was released in April 2020, followed by Resident Evil Re:Verse in October 2022, with both being available for free to those who bought Resident Evil 3 and Village respectively.
Built on the newly developed RE Engine, the series continued its shift back towards more horror elements. The next mainline game, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was released for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2017. Set in a dilapidated mansion in Louisiana, the game uses a first-person perspective and emphasizes horror and exploration over action, unlike previous installments. The first-person perspective continued in the eighth mainline game Resident Evil Village. Released in May 2021, the game, set in a mysterious European village, is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard although it incorporates more action elements inspired from Resident Evil 4. The game also marked the franchise's debut on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The ninth main game, Resident Evil Requiem, is scheduled for 2026.
A new generation of remakes of older entries began in 2019 with a remake of Resident Evil 2, being released for the PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The remake outsold the original game within a year, selling over five million copies. Following in the success of the Resident Evil 2 remake, Capcom revealed a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in December 2019, known as Resident Evil 3. It was released in April 2020. A remake of Resident Evil 4 was released on March 24, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows.
Story overview
The early Resident Evil games focused on the Umbrella Corporation, an international pharmaceutical company that secretly develops mutagenic viruses to further their "bio-organic weapons" research. The company's viruses can transform humans into mindless zombies while also mutating plants and animals into horrifying monstrosities. The Umbrella Corporation uses its vast resources to effectively control Raccoon City, a fictional midwestern American city. In the original Resident Evil, members of an elite police task force, Special Tactics and Rescue Service, are lured to a derelict mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. The STARS team is mostly decimated by zombies and other BOWs, leaving only a handful of survivors, including Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker. Chris and Jill explore the zombie-infested mansion and uncover a secret underground Umbrella research facility. Wesker reveals himself to be a double agent for Umbrella and betrays his comrades. However, Wesker is seemingly murdered by a Tyrant, a special BOW that is the culmination of the Umbrella Corporation's research.Chris and Jill escape the mansion, but Raccoon City's officials ridicule their testimony due to Umbrella's influence. Meanwhile, a separate viral outbreak occurs in another Umbrella research facility underneath Raccoon City. Most of the city's residents are infected and become zombies. Resident Evil 2 introduces two new protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer and Claire Redfield, the younger sister of Chris. Leon and Claire arrive in Raccoon City amidst the chaos of the viral outbreak. Leon is aided by Ada Wong, a spy posing as an FBI agent, while Claire rescues Sherry Birkin, the daughter of two prominent Umbrella researchers. At the same time, Jill makes her escape from the city in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. A new Tyrant, Nemesis, who Umbrella deploys to eliminate all surviving STARS members, relentlessly pursues her. The U.S. Government destroys Raccoon City with a nuclear missile strike to sterilize the viral outbreak. Leon, Claire, Sherry, Ada, and Jill escape the city before its eradication. Claire continues to look for Chris, whereas Leon is recruited to work for the U.S. Government. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica follows Claire as she escapes from a prison camp in the Southern Ocean and later reunites with Chris at an Umbrella research facility in Antarctica, while Wesker is revealed to be alive. Resident Evil 4, set six years after the Raccoon City incident, focuses on Leon as he tries to rescue the U.S. President's daughter from a cult in Spain.
A government investigation into the Umbrella Corporation reveals its involvement in the Raccoon City disaster and leads to the company's dissolution. Despite the downfall of the Umbrella Corporation, its research and BOWs continue to proliferate across the black market, fueling the rise of bioterrorism. Chris and Jill establish the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance to combat these ever-growing threats on a global scale. Wesker is involved in the development of new potent viral agents and BOWs. In Resident Evil 5, Wesker seeks to unleash a highly mutagenic virus that will infect all of humanity. Chris and the BSAA confront and kill Wesker in Africa before he can fulfill his mission. Resident Evil 6 features Leon and Chris meeting for the first time in the video game series. The two work separately to triage bioterrorist attacks in the United States, Eastern Europe, and China. They are assisted by Sherry, Wesker's illegitimate son Jake Muller, Ada, and many members of the BSAA and the U.S. government.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village introduce a new protagonist, Ethan Winters, who becomes entangled in a bioterrorism incident while searching for his missing wife. He encounters Chris and the BSAA, who help him rescue his wife and defeat Eveline, a powerful BOW. Ethan, Mia, and their newborn daughter, Rosemary, are relocated to Eastern Europe but are abducted by a cult. Ethan ultimately sacrifices himself to destroy a fungal colony being weaponized by bioterrorists and save his family.