The survival horror of Capcom's Resident Evil franchise has captured the interest of millions of fans over the 25 years since the first game launched. Capcom's best-selling franchise has created a huge array of characters through the years, from the original's Jill Valentine to the latest internet obsession, Lady Dimitrescu. Resident Evil also has a history of multiplayer games that get released alongside new entries in the series, and one of these apparently features a gay character.
For those who may not know, the remake of Resident Evil 3 came bundled with Resident Evil: Resistance. Developed by NeoBards Entertainment, Resistance is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game, similar to Dead by Daylight. The story of the game takes place in 1998 around the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, following characters that have been abducted by the Umbrella Intelligence Division. Four Survivors face off against one Mastermind as part of Umbrella's experiments with the t-Virus.
In a recent series of tweets celebrating Pride Month, the game director for Resident Evil: Resistance, Al Yang, revealed that one of the Survivors is gay. Yang explained that Tyrone Henry, the game's tanky Survivor, was always intended to be gay. The developers didn't want Tyrone's sexuality to be the sole basis for his character though, and there wasn't a great way to include that information in dialogue without it sounding forced. In any case, this news makes Resistance one of the only Resident Evil games with an LGBTQ+ character.
However, many players may be confused as to why Tyrone's sexuality is just now being revealed over a year after the game's release. According to Yang, the Resistance team didn't have "the luxury of having constant transmedia lore drops" like Overwatch or League of Legends. Since dialogue wasn't a great way to insinuate Tyrone's sexuality, Yang took it upon himself to publicly reveal the information, even though Tyrone is just one of the minor characters in the Resident Evil franchise.
While the importance of having a visible gay, black man in gaming media can't be understated, players may have mixed feelings about its inclusion after the fact. Some players reacted in a similar way when Overwatch revealed Solider: 76 to be gay. Even if developers conceptualize characters to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, it won't have as much impact unless it's actually stated at the beginning.
All in all, it's great that huge franchises like Resident Evil are thinking of new ways to introduce diverse characters into the mix. Players will still be able to experience Resident Evil: Resistance and its asymmetrical matches. Resident Evil fans can also soon enjoy the Resident Evil crossover with Dead by Daylight to celebrate Resident Evil's 25th anniversary, and Dead by Daylight's 5th.
Resident Evil: Resistance is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.