Inducted: 2024
Although not the first horror-themed video game, Resident Evil (or Biohazard as it was known in Japan) was the first game to popularize what game publisher Capcom called the “survival horror” genre. Created by game director Shinji Mikami and released in 1996, Resident Evil’s combination of cheesy B-movie dialogue, engrossing gameplay, and chilling suspense made it a favorite of gamers searching for more mature video games.
In 1993, Capcom producer Tokuru Fujiwara tasked Mikami with remaking the company’s 1989 horror title Sweet Home. Although Mikami drew on some of the earlier game’s sequences and settings, he also found inspiration in the proto-survival horror game Alone in the Dark (1992), and horror films such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). Mikami wanted Resident Evil to allow players to “use their own techniques and thinking in order to survive the experience.” He believed “this difference between horror games and horror movies could be something wonderful.”
Set in the outskirts of fictional Raccoon City, players controlled (through a third-person view) one of two members (Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine) of the police department’s Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) charged with investigating a series of cannibalistic murders and the disappearance of another S.T.A.R.S. team. Trapped in a mansion, players walked the halls encountering blind spots and the eerie sounds of moans and footsteps meant to build-up player anticipation and fear. With limited ammunition and only a few opportunities to save their game, players had to strategically engage in or avoid combat as they moved through the mansion solving puzzles and confronting mutated zombies, dogs, and spiders.
Such frightening and gruesome content earned the game a “Mature 17+” rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), but its sale of more than 5 million copies signaled that video games with mature themes and narratives could reach and resonate with an audience of older teenagers and adults. That success set the stage for numerous sequels and remakes. The game also inspired other popular survival horror game franchises, such as Silent Hill and Dead Rising. As of 2023, the Resident Evil game franchise had sold 154 million units, making it Capcom’s best-selling series ever.
Resident Evil also spawned comic books, novels, merchandise, a themed restaurant in Tokyo, and a hit action-horror film series starring actress Milla Jovovich. What started as a survival horror game has become a billion dollar international media property.
Did You Know?
The Resident Evil movie franchise has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.