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Ikumi Nakamura announces new studio Unseen with fellow veteran devs

Former Ghostwire: Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura has officially unveiled the new Unseen studio and its lead staff.

TJ Denzer

March 9, 2022 4:25 PM

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It’s been a while since we’d heard from ex-Tango Gameworks art and creative director Ikumi Nakamura. She announced she was starting a new indie studio and getting to work on a new game, but little had been heard on the matter since. Today, seemingly out of nowhere, Nakamura revealed her new studio, Unseen, along with some of the staff that will be joining her in the creation of new projects under the new label.

Nakamura and company revealed Unseen with an announcement trailer and the opening of its Twitter on March 9, 2022. Based out of Tokyo, Japan, Unseen is said to be a collective of artists that aim to not only make games, but also create projects that transcend the gaming medium. Joining her in this endeavor are Misuzu Watanabe (Devil May Cry 5) as game director, Liam Wong (Far Cry, Crysis, Ubisoft Montreal) as visual director, and Naoki Katakai (Okami, Resident Evil, Bayonetta, The Evil Within) as CDO and environment art specialist, just to name a few.

Ikumi would go on to say what a unique experience it had been so far to form Unseen and get it to this point with fellow artists.

“I’m building a new team in a way I have never experienced before,” Nakamura shares in Unseen’s announcement trailer. “Working and learning with this amazing group of talent raises the bar for all of us… We want to transcend into various mediums beyond the realm of video games. We are a group of artists who transcend national borders, working without being seen.”

It was around this time last year that Ikumi Nakamura revealed she was working on putting together an indie gaming studio, citing pressure affecting her health as the reason for leaving Tango Gameworks and Bethesda mid-project. It just so happens that Ghostwire: Tokyo, her last project at Tango, is releasing this month and dropped its launch trailer today as well.

With Unseen revealed and a solid array of staff around Nakamura, stay tuned here at Shacknews as we await further details on projects or games coming out of the studio. We’ll share them here when the reveal happens.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.