Resident Evil , known in Japan as Biohazard , [a] is a Japanese horror media franchise created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara , [1] [2] and owned by the video game company Capcom. The franchise focuses on a series of survival horror games and includes live-action films , animated films , comic books, novels, audio dramas, and merchandise. The story follows outbreaks of zombies and other monsters created mainly by the Umbrella Corporation. The franchise began with the video game Resident Evil , released in It has grown to encompass numerous sequels of various genres , incorporating elements of action , exploration, and puzzle solving, and storylines inspired by horror and action films. Resident Evil has been credited with popularizing survival horror games, as well as re-popularizing zombies in mainstream popular culture from the late s onwards along with The House of the Dead , leading to renewed interest in zombie films during the s.