residenShinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil games and the founder of Tango Gameworks, is leaving the studio soon, Bethesda confirmed this week. Confirmation of Mikami’s departure from Tango Gameworks followed reports shared on Thursday that suggested the famed developer would indeed be leaving the studio within a matter of months. Bethesda’s statement about the matter confirmed the news, wished Mikami well, and reiterated that Tango Gameworks still has more in store for players following the studio’s most recent success that was Hi-Fi Rush. That game was a departure from what Mikami and the studio are best known for with the pair more frequently putting out horror games in the past.
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Bethesda’s comments about Mikami leaving were shared on social media and can be seen below:
“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 member 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.”
Reports shared this morning prior to Bethesda’s official announcement cited an email shared internally within Bethesda that mentioned Mikami’s departure. What’s included in the public statement seen above is largely in line with what that email reportedly said.
As mentioned previously, Hi-Fi Rush is the most recent game to come out of Mikami and Tango Gameworks, but it’s far from the only one he’s associated with. Mikami originally worked for Capcom and worked on a number of different games like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Goof Troop, and Disney’s Aladdikn before pivoting hard to horror games. He was a director on Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4, and The Evil Within and served as a producer or executive producer on numerous other games like The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hi-fi Rush.
Mikami hasn’t yet said what his next move is, but we may already know what Tango Gameworks has in the works. In Hi-Fi Rush, people spotted what may be a teaser for a new The Evil Within game. A brief glimpse at a certain display in the game included a phrase saying “sequel to popular survival horror game franchise announced.” It’s a phrase that could very well have been taken as a hint that The Evil Within 3 is in the works, though Tango Gameworks of course hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
