Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 7
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	Capcom
Publisher	Capcom
Platform	PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4)
Device	PlayStation VR
Operating System	PlayStation 4
Type	Game
Genre	Survival horror, First-person
Input Device	DualShock 4 wireless controller
Play Area	Seated
Game Mode	Single-player
Comfort Level	Comfort options provided (adjustable turning, peripheral dimming); reported as intense
Release Date	January 24, 2017
Price	US $59.99 (base game at launch)
App Store	PlayStation Store, Steam
Website	https://www.residentevil.com/7/

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See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom, released on January 24, 2017. It was the first numbered entry in the Resident Evil series to use a first-person perspective, and the entire main campaign is playable in virtual reality through an included PlayStation VR mode on the PlayStation 4.

The VR mode covered a full-length, roughly 10-hour AAA horror campaign rather than a short demo or minigame, which was uncommon for headset titles at the time. For its first 12 months, the VR format was exclusive to PlayStation VR, and despite years of requests it never received official support on PC VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, nor an official PlayStation VR2 mode. The game won Best VR/AR Game at The Game Awards 2017.

Gameplay

Resident Evil 7 is played entirely from a first-person view. The player controls Ethan Winters, who travels to a derelict plantation in rural Louisiana to find his missing wife and becomes trapped by the Baker family. Play centers on exploration, item and resource management, puzzle solving, and combat against fungal creatures called the Molded, in the slower, scarcity-driven style associated with earlier survival horror entries in the series.

On the PlayStation 4, the same campaign can be played either on a television or in the PlayStation VR mode, where the player sees the world from inside the headset. VR play uses the DualShock 4 controller for movement and actions rather than the PlayStation Move motion controllers; aiming is handled by physically turning the head and body, which reviewers described as more accurate than a thumbstick. Capcom included a comfort tutorial and options to adjust turning speed and to dim the periphery of the screen during movement, intended to reduce motion sickness. Two of the game's story add-ons, Not a Hero and End of Zoe, can also be played in VR, as can the Banned Footage scenario packs.

Development

Resident Evil 7 was directed by Koshi Nakanishi, who had previously directed Resident Evil: Revelations, with Masachika Kawata and Tsuyoshi Kanda as producers. Kawata and Nakanishi chose a first-person camera so players would experience the horror as directly as possible. It was the first full-length game built on Capcom's in-house RE Engine.

The first-person design suited stereoscopic VR, and Capcom built PlayStation VR support into the PlayStation 4 version so the complete game could be played in a headset from start to finish. An early VR build shown at E3 2016 drew attention for how disorienting it could be; one Engadget hands-on described the demo as a "puke-inducing" experience, and several previewers who had not previously suffered VR sickness reported nausea, which informed the comfort options Capcom shipped in the final game.

Release

The base game launched on January 24, 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows, with the VR mode available only on the PlayStation 4 version through PlayStation VR. Capcom's marketing announced that the VR format would be exclusive to PlayStation VR for 12 months. After that window passed in early 2018 the VR mode did not appear on PC VR platforms, and as of 2026 the only way to play Resident Evil 7 with motion controls on PC is through an unofficial fan modification, REFramework by the modder Praydog, which is not a Capcom product.

The flatscreen game was later ported to additional systems, but those versions do not add a new official VR mode.

Platform	Date	VR mode
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows	January 24, 2017	PlayStation VR (PS4 only)
Nintendo Switch (cloud)	May 24, 2018 (Japan); December 16, 2022 (worldwide)	None
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S	June 13, 2022	None
iOS, iPadOS, macOS	July 2, 2024	None
Nintendo Switch 2	February 27, 2026	None

Sources: Capcom and platform listings.

By March 31, 2026, Capcom reported that Resident Evil 7 had sold 17.40 million units, ranking it the company's fourth best-selling game of all time. It was the first title in the series to pass 10 million cumulative shipments, a milestone Capcom announced in October 2021.

Reception

Resident Evil 7 was well reviewed. On Metacritic the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions hold a score of 86, and the Windows version holds 83; the player score sits at 8.2 out of 10. IGN rated it 7.7 out of 10 and GameSpot 8 out of 10.

Coverage of the PlayStation VR mode was strongly positive. UploadVR called it "absolutely incredible" and noted that it was the first game to deliver a fully developed single-player story lasting far longer than a couple of hours played entirely from inside a headset, while cautioning that the first-person horror was intense in VR. Game Informer ran a feature arguing the game was best played in VR.

The game won Best VR/AR Game at The Game Awards 2017, held on December 7, 2017, beating nominees that included Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Superhot VR. It also took Best VR Game at the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards and Best VR Audio at the 2018 G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild) Awards.