Topic summary
Resident Evil
Resident Evil, known as Biohazard (バイオハザード, Baiohazādo) 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, audio dramas, and merchandise. With over 213 million video game copies sold worldwide as of June 2026, Resident Evil is Capcom's best-selling franchise, the ninth best-selling video game franchise, the best‑selling horror game franchise, and one of the highest-grossing horror media franchises.
The first Resident Evil game was created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara for PlayStation, and was released in 1996. It is credited for defining the survival horror genre and returning zombies to popular culture. With Resident Evil 4 (2005), 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 (2017) and Resident Evil Village (2021), which both used a first-person perspective. Capcom has also released four Resident Evilremakes: Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020) and Resident Evil 4 (2023), with a remake of Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000) releasing in 2027. The ninth and most recent main installment, Resident Evil Requiem, was released in 2026.
The first Resident Evil film was released in 2002, starring Milla Jovovich. It was followed by five sequels and two reboots, Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and Resident Evil (2026). A television series was developed by Netflix and aired for one season in 2022. 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 and the third highest-grossing horror film series.