Shinji Mikami, award-winning game designer and co-creator of the Resident Evil franchise, will leave studio Tango Gameworks in the coming months. The news was first revealed by TrueAchievements before later being confirmed by Bethesda, which thanked Mikami for his creative leadership and support over the years.
‘We can confirm that Shinji Mikami has decided to leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months,’ Bethesda said. ‘We thank him for his work as a creative leader and supportive mentor to young developers on The Evil Within franchise, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and, of course, Hi-Fi RUSH.’
‘We wish Mikami-san well in the future and are excited by what lies ahead for the talented developers at Tango.’
Notably, Mikami actually founded Tango Gameworks, way back 2010. The studio quickly gained the attention of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media, and was acquired in its first year. Since then, it has developed a range of iconic games in the horror genre, and beyond it. In 2022, Tango Gameworks surprise-launched the smash hit Hi-Fi RUSH, which quickly became one of the best new games of the year.
Read: Hi-Fi Rush, the surprise Xbox exclusive game, is pure delight
Off the back of this game’s success, Tango’s future looks bright. As for Mikami, it appears his next steps are yet to be revealed.
Given his decades-long experience in the games industry and a starry portfolio that includes Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Dino Crisis, it’s unlikely he’ll be a free agent for long – but with such an impressive tenure, and so many major projects under his belt, it would be perfectly reasonable to assume a break is in order.
Mikami has frequently expressed a desire to help young developers in their career path, and it may be that he turns to further mentorship opportunities in future. Whatever the case, we’ll likely hear more about Mikami, and the future of Tango Gameworks, in the coming months.
