[Updated] Misleadingly Titled Biohazard Village Quietly Launches on Steam

Published: September 1, 2020 4:35 PM /

By:


Biohazard Village cover

Update #2: Biohazard Village has now been removed from Steam, roughly one day after it made its controversial debut on the platform.

Trying to go to the Biohazard Village Steam Store page will simply take you to the Steam frontpage now. It was removed at around 12:15 AM on September 2, 2020, according to the game's SteamDB Entry.


Update: TechRaptor has learned that Capcom filed a DMCA notice against Biohazard Village on Steam. It remains available for purchase on the Steam store at the time of this update.

Furthermore, we have discovered that this game largely — if not entirely — makes use of "The House" asset bundle on the Unity Asset Store. The locations, enemies, and characters are identical between the asset package and Biohazard Village.

Our original story continues below.


Biohazard Village is a new indie game that has quietly launched on Steam today, and I can't quite shake the feeling that it looks awfully similar to CAPCOM's Resident Evil games on the surface.

In Biohazard Village, players find themselves playing a suspiciously-similar woman from a third-person perspective. There is an ominous air all around you and it seems like an enemy can come out of the woodwork at any moment. Thankfully, she is equipped with a futuristic assault rifle that never has to reload.

After taking just a few steps, you'll soon find yourself assailed by zombie lumberjacks. These creatures need a lot of hits to take down and possess the remarkable ability to walk through walls. It's a level playing field, though, as you can walk through many solid objects yourself. Should you prove your worth, you too will be able to unlock such remarkable achievements as "Biohazard_4" and "Biohazard_5".

Biohazard Village achievements
I am such an elite gamer that I unlocked three achievements at once.

How Did Biohazard Village Get Approved on Steam?

All jokes aside, this game seems like it's trying to bank on the hype for the upcoming Resident Evil Village game. One might think this would violate the Resident Evil trademark — the game is simply called Biohazard in Japan — but the situation is a little more complex than that.

To start, Justia's records show that the "Biohazard" trademark in the gaming category has essentially been abandoned due to a failure to respond or a late response. "Resident Evil Biohazard," however, is most definitely trademarked according to Justia. Trademarks primary legal purpose is to avoid the creation of confusion, and with Biohazard being associated with Resident Evil, as well as the Village name, and similar iconography used here, it would seem more likely to run afoul of it, especially when considering there are almost certainly international trademark treaties covering usage of the name.

Biohazard Village has barebones gameplay, a near-total lack of challenges, and several technical issues, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Forest Games also released a new game one week ago titled PANIC STATION, a "horror action pvp arena" that also happens to be a single-player game. It should be noted that there also happens to be a game named Panic Station VR on Steam that was created by a team of Students from the Korea Vocational College of Information and Technology.

We've reached out to Valve, Capcom, and Forest Games to seek comment and learn how this game could have made its way onto Steam. You can read more about Biohazard Village on its Steam Store page.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N