Claire, Leon and Jill Unite in Resident Evil Survival Unit — Mobile Strategy Built for Fans

Resident Evil Survival Unit is a mobile strategy game from JOYCITY that reuses characters and settings from the long-running Resident Evil series, and it is slated for a global release in 2025 on iOS and Android.

1. Overview
2. Gameplay and structure
3. Brasil Game Show demo
4. Fan service and canon
5. Release details and platforms
6. Producer comments

Overview

Survival Unit is a base-building strategy game that places series characters into mission-driven encounters. It follows a parallel timeline to key Resident Evil events and lets players assemble teams from characters across the franchise. The developer is JOYCITY, and the game targets short play sessions on mobile devices.

Gameplay and structure

The game emphasizes team composition and mission planning rather than continuous survival horror. Players manage a base, send groups of characters on missions, and engage in combat that ties into the strategy loop. The demo indicates the game uses traditional Resident Evil elements such as fixed camera angles, puzzles, and zombies, while core loops center on multiplayer and combat-oriented strategy.

Brasil Game Show demo

At the Brasil Game Show, the playable build began with a protagonist waking up in a hospital gown and exploring dim corridors. To progress, players solved a puzzle and repaired an electrical panel to restore power and open a locked door. After exiting the building, the protagonist was saved from a zombie wave by Claire Redfield.

The demo’s early combat sequence was limited in scope. In that initial fight the interaction was primarily a few button presses while Claire dealt heavy damage to on-screen zombies. Additionally, the demo did not include a full run-through of the multiplayer or longer-term base-management systems, so those systems were not shown in depth.

Fan service and canon

Survival Unit permits cross-era teamups and series callbacks. For example, players can place Claire, Jill, and Leon on the same team, and the game includes the weapon-selling Merchant character from Resident Evil 4 as a purchasable vendor. The presentation also references classic series moments, such as door-opening animations and environmental set pieces that echo earlier Resident Evil titles.

Release details and platforms

JOYCITY has announced a global release window of 2025. The game is being developed for iOS and Android, and promotion around the title positions it as a mobile-first entry that leans into strategy and short sessions.

Producer comments

Producer Shinji Hashimoto explained that the team designed the game to be played in short sessions, making the traditional horror experience tiresome and strategy a more suitable genre. “The horror comes from situations where you feel ‘oh I didn’t know that,’ ‘this is something new! How do I fight it?,’ or ‘I made a mistake, now my strategy is not working.’ Especially when you play in multiplayer, when you make mistakes and other guild members lose because of you, it is also a very interesting situation that invokes horror.”