They have been making them since like 2001 or so. The first film was released a short time before the remake of RE1 on the Gamecube. The second and third came later on.
But this one actually follows the game's storyline continuity. I think because of this, it was a very good decision to have it CGI, unlike the live action films which were mainly based on the basic idea of the game's story and used many of the plots as well.