Resident Evil, known in Japan as Biohazard(バイオハザードBaiohazādo), is a media franchise owned by the video game company Capcom. It was created by Shinji Mikami as a survival horror video game series that was initiated with Resident Evil in 1996. Since then, the game series has branched out to include action games, and has sold 50 million units as of 30 June 2012. The franchise has been expanded to comic books, novels and novelizations, sound dramas, a series of live-action and animated feature films, and a variety of associated merchandise, such as action figures.