Resident Evil as a franchise has taken a page from its own book in terms of preserving its own existence. Since 1996, this undead series of survivors fighting back against zombified humans, dogs, and a variety of other eldritch abominations — I’m looking at you, Resident Evil: Village — and with the recent remake of the fan-favorite Resident Evil 4, the train doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon.
So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and figure out the optimal way to play the Resident Evil games in release order. In this guide, we’ll be listing the western titles for the games, so while Resident Evil is technically called Biohazard in Japan, it will be called Resident Evil. This also applies for the platforms; we’ll be listing the means by which you can play in the west.
How to play Resident Evil in release order
- Resident Evil (1996)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation
- Resident Evil 2 (1998)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation
- Resident Evil Survivor (2000)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation
- Resident Evil — Code: Veronica (2000)
- Release Platform/s: Sega Dreamcast
- Resident Evil Gaiden (2002)
- Release Platform/s: Game Boy Color
- Resident Evil [remake] (2002)
- Release Platform/s: GameCube
- Resident Evil Zero (2002)
- Release Platform/s: GameCube
- Resident Evil: Dead Aim (2003)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 2
- Resident Evil Outbreak (2004)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 2
- Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 (2005)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 2
- Resident Evil 4 (2005)
- Release Platform/s: GameCube
- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007)
- Release Platform/s: Nintendo Wii
- Resident Evil 5 (2009)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009)
- Release Platform/s: Nintendo Wii
- Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011)
- Release Platform/s: Nintendo 3DS
- Resident Evil: Revelations (2012)
- Release Platform/s: Nintendo 3DS
- Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Resident Evil 6 (2012)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Resident Evil Revelations 2 (2015)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- Umbrella Corps (2016)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, PC
- Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (2017)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- Resident Evil 2 [remake] (2019)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- Resident Evil 3 [remake] (2020)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- Resident Evil: Resistance (2020)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
- Resident Evil Village (2021)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC, Stadia
- Resident Evil 4 [remake] (2023)
- Release Platform/s: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC