As of December 2023, Resident Evil 2 was the best-selling entry in Capcom's Resident Evil series. The 2017 survival horror game sold over 13.6 million units worldwide. The first game of the series, Resident Evil, was released in 1996 for PlayStation 1 and the franchise is one of Capcom's all-time best-sellers.
Resident Evil – the original survival horror game
The Resident Evil series, also known as Biohazard in its home market Japan and Southeast Asia, is a horror video game franchise created by Capcom. The first game of the series was released in 1996, and as of June 2023, there are currently ten core Resident Evil games and multiple spin-offs, bringing the series total to about 30 games. The Resident Evil series gave rise to the new gaming genre of survival horror and proved to be a critical and commercial success. Resident Evil titles typically feature players surviving in environments overrun by zombies and other monsters, as well as first-person or third-person shooter elements.
To date, the Resident Evil video game series has sold over 150 million units (including remakes and re-releases for other platforms), making it one of the biggest video game series of all time. The series’ most recent release, Resident Evil 4 (2023), is a current-gen remake of the highly acclaimed and award-winning 2005 game of the same name. Resident Evil 4 (2023) sold approximately four million copies within two weeks of release, making it one of the fastest-selling entries in the series.
Overall, the Resident Evil series is frequently cited as one of the most influential video game series of all time, with an impact that can also be felt beyond video games, as it is credited with giving rise to a new horror genre as well as sparking the revival of the zombie genre in media in the early 2000s.
RE success beyond gaming
In addition to video games, the Resident Evil franchise has also seen success with live-action film adaptations, animation films, two Netflix series, as well as merchandise sales, novels, and comics. With a box office gross of over 314 million U.S. dollars, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) is one of the most successful video game movies worldwide.
