Resident Evil Games in Order

Why this order?

Resident Evil is one of the longest-running survival horror series, and there are two sensible ways to play it. Release order follows the games as Capcom shipped them, from the 1996 original through Resident Evil Requiem in 2026. This is the order most fans recommend for a first run, because each game builds on the lore, characters, and mechanics established before it, and you watch the series evolve from fixed-camera survival horror into modern over-the-shoulder action.

Chronological order rearranges the games by when their events take place in the story. The big change is Resident Evil Zero, which released fifth but is a prequel set on the night just before the first game, so it leads the chronological list. From there the timeline runs through the Raccoon City outbreak (RE2 and RE3), the island events of Code: Veronica, and onward to 4, 5, 6, 7, and Village. Story and release order mostly agree after Zero, which is why release order remains the easiest starting point.

The series is genuinely confusing because of remakes. Capcom rebuilt Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020), and Resident Evil 4 (2023) from the ground up. These retell the same stories as the originals with modern controls and visuals, so beginners can absolutely play the remakes in place of the older versions without missing the plot. A Code: Veronica remake (titled Resident Evil Veronica) was announced in June 2026 for a 2027 release, so that classic is the next to get the modern treatment. We list the original releases here to keep the timeline clean, but the remakes slot into the exact same spots.

We have kept spinoffs like the Resident Evil Revelations games and light-gun shooters off the main list so the core arc stays clear. If you enjoy this kind of franchise untangling, the same remake-versus-original question comes up across survival horror, much like comparing the various Silent Hill entries.