Resident Evil Is Getting Playable Co-Op After 30 Years

After 30 Years, Legendary Modder Gets Co-Op Working In Original Resident Evil Via the Steam store page. Published Sep 11, 2026, 6:26 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Yesterday, popular modder Aydan Watkins announced that they were both returning to the scene and had already begun work on adding co-op to the original Resident Evil. "Been a while huh? Well with the release of the Resident Evil decomp I wanted to have a little play with it," they posted to X. "Currently in the process of [adding] VERY basic online co-op as a proof of concept. SO far the clients connect to one another and share packets... More to come!" Just an hour later, they shared a video of the mod in action, with two players walking around Spencer Mansion, even being able to occupy different rooms at the same time. "Online co-op in Resident Evil 1!!! It's still VERY early and purely proof of concept. But it works!!! One is a host, the other a client, connected, rendering both players across different rooms," they said. Their final post on September 10 showed a second player joining the game via the load menu, with nameplates now displayed above their heads. It might be "far from finished," but it's an impressive feat nonetheless. "Everything now [syncs] properly across clients," they explained. "Movement, animations, and even player names. Also updates when a player disconnects and rejoins." Player Models, Keys, And The Challenges Ahead With the basic networking now demonstrated—allowing players to join each other's game, sync their movement, and even visit different rooms—Aydan is now looking towards the trickier questions. For example, what happens when one person picks up an item, like a key? "There are a few ways to tackle this," they said. "One player takes a key, the flag is set for both players so the other person can't get the same key. That said when a door is unlocked by Player 1 that flag is also sent to Player 2 who, without the key, can open the now unlocked door." Inventory state, puzzle progression, scripted events, cutscenes, room transitions, saving, death, player desyncs, and cinematic triggers are all problems Aydan will have to address if the mod continues. Can players be revived? Is it game over for both if one dies? What happens when one player waltzes into Yawn's lair, while the other is still rummaging through the piano room? Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, the DS version of the original game, had a popular co-op mode. Then there's the question of who exactly the second player will be. Two Chris Redfields and two Jill Valentines would be a little immersion breaking, but then having Jill and Chris explore the mansion together breaks the story completely. Barry and Rebecca are certainly options, but they have scripted segments throughout the game. Whatever Aydan ends up deciding, they told one commenter, "This is very much an early proof of concept. That said, being able to choose your model is certainly something that can be done now that I have the source code." It’s still a long way from turning into a full co-op campaign, but the proof-of-concept shows that the 1996 classic is far more moddable than it once appeared. Playing through Spencer Mansion with a friend suddenly feels less like a pipe dream and more like a matter of figuring out how much work is involved. Released March 22, 1996 ESRB Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence Developer(s) Capcom Publisher(s) Capcom Engine RE Engine Franchise Resident Evil Number of Players 1