Resident Evil 7 Took Cues From The Last of Us, Says Ex-Capcom Producer

Did you ever play Resident Evil 7 and feel like it had a little bit of The Last of Us DNA in it? Turns out, you weren't imagining things. According to a former Capcom producer, the survival horror reboot was indirectly inspired by Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic masterpiece.

Miguel Corti, who served as a senior manager of global production at Capcom, recently shared some behind-the-scenes details on BlueSky. He explained that the originally planned Resident Evil 7 went through several iterations, and instead of taking cues from Call of Duty, the team looked to The Last of Us. There was even a mandate to focus on narrative, since that seemed like the only rationale to make a single-player game anymore.

Why Call of Duty? Well, by the early 2010s, the FPS franchise's zombies mode had built a formidable community, making it a worthwhile touchstone for what people wanted from undead experiences. But once The Last of Us arrived, it absorbed a lot of that attention. The fact that it was both a commercial and critical darling was deeply appealing to the team on the ground, even though execs were happy with how Resident Evil 6 performed.

"The devs wanted the critical acclaim other games were garnering, especially since many of them were obviously influenced by Resident Evil," Corti says. "So, Resident Evil 7, not only would it be narrative-driven, it would have even more lore connections." That shift in approach was a big deal for a series that had grown increasingly over-the-top and action-heavy.

Resident Evil 6 was messy, featuring multiple characters in a confusing story that didn't make clear additions to the mythology. Resident Evil 7 went through many iterations, but wound up cleaner, more dialed in, and, frankly, scarier. It was a win all around. Sales were lower than The Last of Us, but most games come up short compared to Joel and Ellie's journey across the cordyceps-torn US.

More importantly, Resident Evil 7 re-invigorated the community, leading to Resident Evil 8 and this year's Requiem, and making 6 seem like a distant memory. So the next time you're creeping through the Baker house, remember: a little piece of The Last of Us helped shape that terror. What do you think—did Resident Evil 7 feel like a response to The Last of Us to you? Will you be revisiting it anytime soon?