The Resident Evil (Biohazard) Series – 30 Years of Capcom's Survival Horror
From Shinji Mikami's 1996 original to RE4's camera shift, RE7's first-person view and the RE Engine, the remakes, 2026's Requiem, and the films: the Resident Evil story.
Resident Evil is a horror game series made by Capcom. In Japan it has been released under the name "Biohazard" from the very beginning, while the rest of the world knows it as Resident Evil. The basic premise is surviving in places overrun by zombies and mutated monsters, and since the first game in 1996 the series has expanded beyond games into films, animation, TV series, and novels.
The series has changed its shape dramatically several times. The flow divides clearly into the early games, where you conserved bullets in front of fixed cameras; Resident Evil 4, whose over-the-shoulder view changed the grammar of action games; Resident Evil 7, which revived the horror with a first-person view; and the remakes that rebuilt older entries from scratch.
In this post, we look in turn at how the first game was made, where the name "survival horror" came from, what lasting influence the camera changes had, and finally the latest game, the films, and how to enjoy the series today.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First game | March 22, 1996 (Japan, PlayStation) |
| Developer/Publisher | Capcom |
| Creators | Shinji Mikami (director), Tokuro Fujiwara (planning/producer) |
| Japanese title | Biohazard (バイオハザード) |
| Total sales | Over 213 million copies as of June 2026 (Wikipedia figure) |
| Latest main entry | Resident Evil Requiem (February 27, 2026) |
According to Wikipedia, Resident Evil is Capcom's best-selling series and also the best-selling horror game series. Guinness World Records recognizes it as the best-selling survival horror series.
1996: The Birth of the First Game
Development of the first game began in 1993. The starting point was Capcom's Tokuro Fujiwara asking Shinji Mikami and his colleagues to make a new game that drew on elements of his own horror game "Sweet Home," released for the Famicom in 1989. Mikami had joined Capcom in 1990 as a junior designer, and Wikipedia also notes that he was initially reluctant to take on the project because he disliked being scared.
The game changed form several times. It was first conceived for the Super Famicom, then in 1994 was being built as a fully 3D first-person PlayStation game, before finally becoming a third-person game. The turning point was the 1992 game "Alone in the Dark." When Mikami saw its fixed-camera approach, he hesitated at first, feeling it reduced immersion, but he adopted it because pre-drawn backgrounds made it possible to create far more detailed scenes even with the PlayStation's hardware at the time. He has also said that without Alone in the Dark, the game would have been first-person.
Many elements were carried over from Sweet Home: the mansion setting, puzzles, a loading screen showing a door opening, storytelling through scattered diaries and notes, and multiple endings that depend on who survives.
The overseas title has its own story. While preparing for the US release in late 1994, it was pointed out that securing the trademark for "Biohazard" would be difficult because a DOS game and a New York hardcore punk band already used the name. An internal contest was held, and the name chosen was Resident Evil.
The game was released on PlayStation on March 22, 1996 in Japan, April 1 in North America, and August 16 in Europe, and was later ported to the Sega Saturn and other platforms. According to Wikipedia, it sold about 4 million copies worldwide by December 1997, becoming the best-selling PlayStation game at the time. The Platinum Titles list on Capcom's investor relations page shows the original PlayStation version at 2.75 million units.
The Name "Survival Horror" and the Basic Rules
The term "survival horror" was first used by Capcom to promote this game. Wikipedia describes Resident Evil as the first game to be called by that name and the work that set the template for the genre. It was followed by Resident Evil 2 in 1998 and Resident Evil 3 in 1999, and in 2000 Code: Veronica came out on the Dreamcast.
The early games' rules feel quite inconvenient today, but that inconvenience became the foundation of their tension.
- Fixed cameras and pre-drawn backgrounds: Each room has a set camera position, so you can't see around corners.
- Tank controls: Pressing up walks the character in the direction they face, while left and right rotate them in place. Mikami felt the fixed cameras and these controls made the game scarier.
- Scarce ammunition: You can find guns and ammo, but the amounts are small, so you can't defeat every enemy. You have to choose each time whether to avoid or fight.
- A small inventory: In the first game, Chris can carry only 6 items and Jill only 8. Extra items are stored in item boxes in safe rooms.
- Ink ribbon saves: Saving is done at typewriters, and each save uses up one ink ribbon.
- Puzzles: You must find items such as keys, crests, and medals and place them in the right spots to open the way forward. Puzzles remained an important element throughout the series.
Health is shown not as a number but as an electrocardiogram on the inventory screen, and mixing herbs to boost their healing also started with the first game. These devices were later used often in other survival horror games.
RE4's Over-the-Shoulder View and Its Influence on Action Games
Resident Evil 4, released on the GameCube in North America on January 11, 2005, is the game that changed the series' direction dramatically. Development began in 1999 for the PlayStation 2, but several versions were scrapped along the way. The first version, led by Hideki Kamiya, was judged too different from the series and became a separate game: 2001's Devil May Cry. In the end, Shinji Mikami took over as director himself.
RE4 abandoned the fixed camera for each room in favor of a camera that follows behind the character and moves in over the shoulder when aiming. Elements such as a laser sight, quick time events that require pressing buttons at the right moment, an attaché case inventory where items must fit into a grid, and a merchant who buys and sells weapons also first appeared here. The setting is a rural village in Spain, where protagonist Leon S. Kennedy goes to rescue the US president's kidnapped daughter.
This camera left a major mark on later action games. Wikipedia explains that RE4 is regarded as having redefined the third-person shooter genre, and notes that the over-the-shoulder view was used in games such as Gears of War, Dead Space, and The Last of Us. Dead Space's designers have also said they went back to the drawing board after RE4 came out.
Not all reactions were positive, however. As ammunition became more plentiful and the action grew, some critics said the game was less scary. Resident Evil 5 (2009) added cooperative play, and Resident Evil 6 (2012) let players move while shooting, completely leaving behind the series' signature tank controls. In 2013, producer Masachika Kawata said the series would return its focus to horror and suspense.
RE7's First-Person Shift and the RE Engine
That promise took concrete form in Resident Evil 7, released on January 24, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It was the first main entry in the series to use a first-person view, and it also supported PlayStation VR. The setting is a rundown plantation house in Louisiana, which protagonist Ethan Winters enters in search of his missing wife. The director was Koshi Nakanishi, who had made Resident Evil: Revelations.
RE7 was also the first full-length game to use Capcom's in-house RE Engine. The RE Engine was created in 2014, when development on RE7 began, as a successor to the earlier MT Framework. It was later used for Village, Requiem, and the remakes of 2, 3, and 4, and it is also used in other Capcom games such as Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and Street Fighter 6.
On Capcom's Platinum Titles list (as of June 30, 2026), RE7 stands at 18.4 million units. Its sequel, Resident Evil Village, released on May 7, 2021, continued RE7's first-person view while adding action elements influenced by RE4, and was the first in the series to come out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Village is at 15.8 million units on the same list.
The Remakes and the Latest Game, Requiem
Capcom has also steadily released remakes that rebuild older games from scratch. The first was the 2002 remake of the original on GameCube, and in the RE Engine era the remakes have continued as follows.
| Title | Release | Sales (Capcom, as of June 30, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil 2 (remake) | January 2019 | 19.7 million |
| Resident Evil 3 (remake) | April 2020 | 14.5 million |
| Resident Evil 4 (remake) | March 24, 2023 | 16.0 million |
The RE2 remake became the best-selling game in the series. The RE4 remake sold more than 3 million copies in its first two days. "Resident Evil Veronica," a remake of 2000's Code: Veronica, is scheduled for release in 2027.
The ninth main entry, Resident Evil Requiem, was released on February 27, 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Koshi Nakanishi of RE7 returned as director, and it was made with the RE Engine. Its development was announced in July 2024, and it was unveiled at Summer Game Fest in June 2025. It was originally conceived as an online open-world game, but changed direction to a single-player game in 2021.
Requiem alternates between two protagonists. FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft's chapters are survival horror in which you hide, evade, and solve puzzles with scarce resources, while Leon's chapters are action-heavy like RE4. Both characters can be played in either first or third person. On some difficulty settings, Grace must save with typewriters and ink ribbons, bringing back a rule from the first game. According to Wikipedia, Requiem sold 5 million copies in five days, becoming the fastest-selling game in the series, and Capcom's list shows it at 8 million units.
A World Expanded into Film and TV
Resident Evil has spread widely beyond games. A live-action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson came out in 2002, and six films in total were made through 2016. These films did not follow the games' plot directly, instead centering on Alice, an original character created for the films and played by Milla Jovovich. Critics were not kind, but the films were box office successes.
On November 24, 2021, the reboot "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," directed by Johannes Roberts, was released. Then on September 18, 2026, a new film titled "Resident Evil," written and directed by Zach Cregger, opened in the US. According to Wikipedia, it received positive reviews, is the highest-rated film based on a video game on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and has become the highest-grossing film in the series.
CG animated films set in the same continuity as the games have also been released since 2008. On Netflix, the CG animated series "Infinite Darkness" premiered on July 8, 2021, and a live-action series premiered on July 14, 2022; the live-action series ended after one season.
How to Play Today
The easiest way to start Resident Evil today is to pick one of the recent games or remakes built on the RE Engine. On PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows, you can play most of the main entries from RE7 onward and the remakes of 2, 3, and 4.
- Handhelds and Apple devices: A Nintendo Switch 2 version of RE7 came out in February 2026, and the RE4 remake also arrived on Switch 2 on October 16, 2026. The RE4 remake has been playable on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS since December 2023, and RE7 and the RE2 remake since 2024.
- VR: RE7 supports PlayStation VR, and the RE4 remake added a PlayStation VR2 mode as free downloadable content on December 8, 2023.
- Where to start: If you want to follow the story order, one approach is to meet Leon and Claire in the RE2 remake, then continue to the RE4 remake and Requiem. If you want first-person horror, play RE7 and Village in order. If you're curious about the original fixed-camera feel, the 2002 remake of the first game is a good choice.