Summary
Shinji Mikami, the esteemed director of iconic games likeResident Evil(1996) andThe Evil Within, has finally opened up regarding his decision to leaveTango Gameworks, the company he founded. GivenTango Gameworks' recent rise to fame with the release of the critically-acclaimed gameHi-Fi Rush, Mikami’s sudden departure from the studio was seen as surprising by many, but fans now have a proper explanation from the famed developer himself.
Shinji Mikami established his own independent studio, Tango Gameworks, in 2010, after working at companies like Capcom and PlatinumGames for several years. Only a few months after the company was founded, however, it was bought up by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media after undergoing major financial troubles. Nonetheless, Mikami worked at Tango Gameworks for over a decade, developing hit survival horror titles likeThe Evil Within 1and2, all the way to action games likeGhostwire: TokyoandHi-Fi Rush. AfterMicrosoft’s acquisition of Bethesdaand Tango Gameworks was finalized in 2022, Mikami left the studio he founded about a year or so later, leading speculation to run rampant as to why theResident Evilcreator resigned from the company. But now, thanks to new information from Mikami himself, it seems like all the questions surrounding his departure can be put to rest.
According to a recent interview uploaded to the YouTube channel of Japanese game developer Byking, Shinji Mikami revealed that he actually wanted to leave Tango Gameworks eight years before he eventually did.As translated by Automaton, Mikami noted that he “had only been CEO [at Tango] for 6 months” before it was eventually acquired by ZeniMax. Although it seemed like he was the representative of the company from the outside looking in, Mikami likened his position at Tango as one more akin to that of “a rank-and-file employee” rather than a higher-up. “I had ‘___ producer’ attached to my name, but I wasn’t an executive or anything of the sort.” Although he still managed to create severalgreat games at Tango Gameworks, this made it harder for him to work on the more unique, smaller scale passion projects he had in mind.
This lack of complete control, combined with a personal desire to separate himself from the survival horror genre that he’d become associated with, resulted in Mikami having the desire todepart from Tango Gameworkssince 2015. He decided not to do so for so long, however, simply because he felt that he had a responsibility to contribute to ongoing projects at the company.
Shinji Mikami Has Left a Great Legacy Behind at Tango Gameworks
With his days at Tango Gameworks now behind him, Shinji Mikami is now setting up a brand-new studio named Kamuy. Though he has yet to formally unveil any information regarding this new company of his, given theResidentEvilcreator’s pedigree, there’s a good chance that Kamuy’s debut project could be yet another astounding addition to the long list ofgreat games directed by Shinji Mikami. In the meantime, though, fans will have to settle on replaying some of Mikami’s and Tango Gameworks' older titles as they wait for updates on whatever Kamuy is working on.
