Why is the saga known as Resident Evil in the West instead of Biohazard? We revisit a curious behind-the-scenes detail from one of the most important video game franchises in history.
No one will be shocked to learn that the Resident Evil series goes by a completely different name in Japan. This is not only a common practice across entertainment – including video games – but also a distinctive trait tied to the history of one of the industry’s most recognizable franchises. So if you already knew Capcom’s IP was released as Biohazard in its home country, but never understood why the rest of the world got a different title, the answer is simple: it ultimately came down to a trademark rights problem.
The Name Came From a Capcom Contest
With Resident Evil 9: Requiem getting closer, it’s a good time to look back at this brief but fascinating moment in Capcom’s past. And it is fascinating because, as Chris Kramer – Capcom US’s senior director of communications and community – told GamesRadar+ a while back, it’s rare to hear a story where a largely forgotten game and even a music band end up influencing the decision-making of a major Japanese conglomerate. “In late 1994, Capcom Entertainment in the United States was beginning to accelerate marketing plans for the game that would later be known as Resident Evil in the United States. Capcom Japan informed us that the game’s name was going to be Biohazard in Japan, but I pointed out to the person in charge of marketing at the time that it would be virtually impossible for Capcom to register that name in the United States.”
“As an example, I pointed to an MS-DOS game that had just been released in the United States called Biohazard (not counting the New York hardcore band of the same name), and we could never secure the trademark. As a result, the head of marketing held a company-wide contest to come up with a new name for the game.”
“After reviewing a huge list of proposals, the marketing team decided that Resident Evil was the best, as it was a clever play on words: the first game took place in a mansion, you know? I voted against the name; I thought it was really cheesy. I don’t remember which alternative I liked best, probably something silly about zombies. But the rest of the marketing team loved it and eventually convinced Capcom Japan and [Shinji] Mikami that the name worked. It was actually a designer at Capcom Digital Studios, Capcom’s first US-based development group.”
In Japan, This Happens More Than You Think
The practice of selling a Japanese product worldwide under a different name than the one it carries at home is far more common than most people realize, and it can happen for several reasons. In Resident Evil’s case, the core issue was clearly trademark registration rights, but other naming changes across the industry have also been driven by creative preferences or marketing recommendations meant to ensure a stronger impact outside Japan. This has happened countless times in gaming: not only with household names like Resident Evil, but also with titles such as The Evil Within, originally known as Psycho Break in Japan. And these decisions are not necessarily permanent either: publishers can always shift branding later on if they believe it makes sense – a strategy that isn’t common for established brands, but one that has definitely appeared in this industry.
A relatively recent example comes from SEGA, which started releasing the Yakuza games under the name Like a Dragon. In Japan, the franchise has been called Ryu Ga Gotoku since its very first entry back in 2005 (which is also where its studio name comes from, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio), and the phrase literally translates to “like a dragon” (Like a Dragon). SEGA originally shipped the first game in the West as Yakuza, creating the same kind of split branding that fans associate with Resident Evil/Biohazard. Now, however, the latest entries are titled Like a Dragon because, according to a SEGA of America representative (via Digital Trends), the publisher wanted to “align itself more closely with the Japanese name.”
So yes, we have seen – and will continue to see – plenty of Japanese products whose titles show little consistency between Japan and Western markets. Still, Resident Evil stands out as a special case, because Capcom effectively gave its entire staff the chance to take part in the naming process that ended up shaping one of the most important horror sagas in video game history. Even today the franchise remains stronger than ever: not only because it lives with two names at once, but because every new installment continues to deliver the same goal it always had – sending shivers down our spines.
Source: 3djuegos
