Shinji Mikami, famed Japanese sport designer finest recognized for his work on the Resident Evil collection, has determined to go away Tango Gameworks after founding the studio over 10 years in the past, based on a TrueAchievements report that was corroborated by Bethesda on Twitter.
Mikami’s profession spans quite a lot of video games and genres
Mikami is a legendary sport designer at this level, an previous head within the trade who’s been round for the reason that ‘90s the place he began at Capcom. Whereas his first huge sport as a designer on the Japanese studio was the 1993 action-adventure sport Goof Troop for the SNES, he leveled up and directed the journey horror traditional Resident Evil in 1996. This sport wound up doing gangbusters numbers for Capcom, catapulting Mikami to stardom and solidifying Resident Evil because the tentpole horror franchise we all know right this moment. He’s since labored on plenty of Resident Evil video games all through his Capcom tenure as both an advisor, director, producer, or author whereas reducing his tooth on different storied initiatives. This consists of the survival horror collection Dino Disaster, the 2000 hack-and-slash action-adventure sport Onimusha: Warlords (a favorite of mine), the 2001 action-adventure sport Satan Could Cry (one other fave of mine), the 2003 side-scrolling beat-’em-up Viewtiful Joe (yet one more fave of mine), and so many extra. He’s additionally served as an government producer for a handful of Phoenix Wright video games. This man’s resume is lengthy, yall.
And now, the storied sport developer is beginning a brand new chapter in that resume. In a company-wide ZeniMax e mail seen by TrueAchievements, Bethesda’s senior vp of growth, Todd Vaughn, delivered the information of Mikami’s departure. Although unclear when he’s leaving, Vaughn mentioned Mikami plans to dip out of Tango Gameworks “within the coming months.”
“I’m writing right this moment to let you already know that studio head Shinji Mikami has determined to go away Tango Gameworks within the coming months,” Vaughn mentioned. “Mikami-san has been a inventive chief and supportive mentor to younger builders at Tango for 12 years by his work on The Evil Inside franchise, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and naturally, Hello-Fi Rush.”
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Bethesda then confirmed the news today on Twitter, thanking Mikami for his work and saying it’s enthusiastic about Tango Gameworks’ future.
“We are able to affirm that Shinji Mikami has determined to go away Tango Gameworks within the coming months,” the assertion reads. “We thank him for this work as a inventive chief and supportive mentor to younger builders on The Evil Inside franchise, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and, after all, Hello-Fi Rush. We want Mikami-san properly sooner or later and are excited by what lies forward for the proficient builders at Tango.”
Kotaku reached out to Bethesda and Tango Gameworks for remark.
Mikami elevated the lesser-known with Tango Gameworks
After spending about twenty years at Capcom, Mikami labored with PlatinumGames to launch the 2010 third-person shooter Vanquish. In the identical yr, he based Tango Gameworks, which was nearly instantly acquired by Bethesda Softworks’ mum or dad firm ZeniMax Media. 4 years later, in 2014, Mikami returned to his scary roots to direct the survival horror sport The Evil Inside. It garnered a fairly optimistic reception, resulting in a sequel in 2017. It was throughout this sport’s growth that Mikami began to take a backseat, opting to function a producer whereas supervising the sport’s progress. Tango would go on to launch the 2022 open-world action-adventure sport Ghostwire: Tokyo and this yr’s rhythm-based motion sport Hello-Fi Rush, each of which might be Mikami’s final initiatives because the studio’s government producer. He’s leaving on a excessive be aware.
Mikami leaving Tango Gameworks is a bummer. He’s labored on so many different video games, proving his creativity is aware of no bounds. He additionally helped propel the careers of others by Tango Gameworks, most notably Ikumi Nakamura, an artist who labored on The Evil Inside and Okami earlier than entering into the inventive director function for Ghostwire: Tokyo. On the studio’s official web site, Mikami mentioned he “need[ed] to create a spot for younger creators to problem themselves,” pointing to the “many proficient creators in Japan” that don’t have entry to the identical alternatives. This can be a man who used his energy to raise the obscure and unknown, one thing you don’t see too typically anymore.
Whereas Mikami mentioned in December 2020 he may direct one final sport, it’s unclear what’s subsequent for the famed Japanese sport designer now. However right here’s hoping Mikami stays within the video games trade to proceed the work he sought out to do at Tango Gameworks, that of elevating lesser-known creatives to diversify the kinds of video games we see on the planet.