The city and its outlying areas house several bioengineering laboratories belonging to the Umbrella Corporation. These laboratories develop viruses that can mutate humans and animals into zombie-like creatures. One of the laboratories, unnamed in the video games, is located under Raccoon City and is the producer of the G-Virus. These viruses are the plot devices driving the story behind the games; sabotage and security failures have unleashed these viruses and infected creatures on Raccoon City, and players have to escape the city.