GR Asks: Why was Japanese series Biohazard renamed Resident Evil when it was released elsewhere? Answered by: Chris Kramer, Senior Director …
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Have you ever wondered why Resident Evil is called Biohazard in Japan? The answer is actually quite simple.. Discover it in the following lines. It was 1996 when Capcom, with Shinji Mikami at the helm, commercialized Bio Hazard in Japanese territory. A few days later it came out in the United States, already under the title of Resident Evil.
Raccoon City Native. To my understanding, Capcom couldn’t get a trademark for a series called Biohazard, because of the band that already had that name, so they came up with Resident Evil as a play off of Sweet Home which RE was going to …
So, in Japan, the game is actually called Biohazard, but when it was brought to the US, there was concerns that they would never be able to get the name trademarked, so they decided to go for something else. They held an internal contest to see what the new name should be, and the name Resident Evil was chosen.
It is also easier to distinct this game from the original Biohazard 2. In the West, we are used to games and films getting the same title as previous ones in the same franchise. It were random to Resint Evil because when it came to ship it outside of Japan, there were a band that gone by the name of ‘BIOHAZARD’ so they rename the game to avoid any lawsuits.
Producer Masachika Kawata said the following to Capcom-Unity: “Obviously you can tell we wanted to merge the two titles we’ve had. As fans may know, the game has been called Biohazard ever since the beginning in Japan, and it’s been called Resident Evil in the West.
“As fans may know, the game has been called Biohazard ever since the beginning in Japan, and it’s been called Resident Evil in the West.”
The game was originally called Bio Hazard in Japan. However, it was decided to change the name in North America and Europe after Chris Kramer, the Director of Communications at Capcom, pointed out that it would be impossible to trademark “Biohazard” in the United States. Among others, another game and a band already were using the name.
Resident Evil always was called Biohazard in JP (which imo is a better fitting title since there’s stuff like bio terrorism and such) Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot…
Capcom’s Chris Kramer has spilled the beans as to why the company’s mammoth selling Biohazard franchise became known as Resident Evil outside of Japan.
