Who directed the original 1996 Resident Evil video game?

Shinji Mikami directed the original 1996 Resident Evil video game.

Mikami worked at Capcom and led the project that became Biohazard in Japan and Resident Evil internationally. The game drew on earlier horror games, including Capcom’s Sweet Home, while establishing a distinct formula of exploration, puzzles, limited resources, and fixed camera perspectives.

The project helped popularize the term survival horror in video games. Its cinematic presentation, pre-rendered backgrounds, mansion setting, and emphasis on resource management gave the series a recognizable identity.

Mikami later directed or produced several other major Capcom projects, including Resident Evil 4 and Dino Crisis. Hideki Kamiya directed Resident Evil 2, which is why the two names are sometimes confused when discussing the early series.