Shinji Mikami, famed Japanese recreation designer finest recognized for his work on the Resident Evil sequence, has determined to depart Tango Gameworks after founding the studio over 10 years in the past, in line with 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 recreation designer at this level, an previous head within the business who’s been round for the reason that ‘90s the place he began at Capcom. Whereas his first massive recreation as a designer on the Japanese studio was the 1993 action-adventure recreation Goof Troop for the SNES, he leveled up and directed the journey horror basic Resident Evil in 1996. This recreation wound up doing gangbusters numbers for Capcom, catapulting Mikami to stardom and solidifying Resident Evil because the tentpole horror franchise we all know as we speak. He’s since labored on quite a lot 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 tasks. This consists of the survival horror sequence Dino Disaster, the 2000 hack-and-slash action-adventure recreation Onimusha: Warlords (a favourite of mine), the 2001 action-adventure recreation 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 govt producer for a handful of Phoenix Wright video games. This man’s resume is lengthy, yall.
And now, the storied recreation 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 stated Mikami plans to dip out of Tango Gameworks “within the coming months.”
“I’m writing as we speak to let you recognize that studio head Shinji Mikami has determined to depart Tango Gameworks within the coming months,” Vaughn stated. “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 will affirm that Shinji Mikami has determined to depart 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 12 months, 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 recreation The Evil Inside. It garnered a reasonably optimistic reception, resulting in a sequel in 2017. It was throughout this recreation’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 recreation Ghostwire: Tokyo and this 12 months’s rhythm-based motion recreation Hello-Fi Rush, each of which might be Mikami’s final tasks because the studio’s govt producer. He’s leaving on a excessive notice.
Mikami leaving Tango Gameworks is a bummer. He’s labored on so many diverse 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 moving into the inventive director function for Ghostwire: Tokyo. On the studio’s official web site, Mikami stated 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. It is a man who used his energy to raise the obscure and unknown, one thing you don’t see too typically anymore.
Whereas Mikami stated in December 2020 he might direct one final recreation, it’s unclear what’s subsequent for the famed Japanese recreation designer now. However right here’s hoping Mikami stays within the video games business to proceed the work he sought out to do at Tango Gameworks, that of elevating lesser-known creatives to diversify the varieties of video games we see on the planet.
