The Evil Withindeveloper Tango Gameworks will soon be one less as it is announced that founder and CEO Shinji Mikami will be leaving the company.Tango Gameworksis in an interesting position, seeing massive success with the recent release ofHi-Fi Rush, with potential new projects in the making. The studio seems poised for a successful, but Shinji Mikami will not be a part of it.
Shinji Mikami is a name well known in the gaming industry, most known for starting the highly popular survival horror seriesResident Evilback in 1996, a game that popularized the genre itself and has since inspired many games like it. In his career at Capcom, he oversaw many projects, becoming the executive producer forDevil May Cryand directingResident Evil 4,among others. After he left Capcom, Mikami went on to work for PlatinumGames, directing the gameVanquishbefore eventually setting off on his own and creating his own studio, Tango Gameworks, which developedThe Evil Withinseries and the critically acclaimedrhythm-based action gameHi-Fi Rush.
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Shinji Mikami’s time at Tango Gameworks will be coming to an end, as seen in a recent email shared by TrueAchievements that was sent to ZeniMax employees. The departure of Shinji Mikami was announced by Bethesda’s Senior Vice President Todd Vaughn, who reported that the studio head is set to leave Tango Gameworks in the months to come. Vaughn then remarks that Mikami has been a “creative leader and supportive mentor to young developers at Tango for 12 years” through his participation in the development of some of the studio’s prominent games, includingThe Evil Within,Ghostwire: Tokyo, andHi-Fi Rush.In fact, the latter title was directed by John Johanas, who worked under Mikami for many years before working onHi-Fi Rush, which wasshadow dropped during the Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct.
Further, in the email Vaughn wrote thatHi-Fi Rushwas one of Bethesda’s and Xbox’s most successful recent titles, and the game garnered a great amount of “positive momentum for the business and Tango.” This is true, as Hi-Fi Rush saw momentous success when it was first released, skyrocketing to the top of both Steam and Xbox Game Pass, an instant classic in the eyes of many. It even managed tobeat out the fantasy action gameForspokensales-wise, a game with plenty of marketing and support behind it.
While it is not yet known where Shinji Mikami will be heading next on his journey, the man himself has an amazing repertoire of games backing him up. His influence can be seen in the industry everywhere, and continues to be seen, especially asResident Evil 4is getting its own remake. The legacy Mikami left with Tango Gameworks is a great one.
