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Tango Gameworks lead Shinji Mikami to leave studio

Bethesda has confirmed that Mikami will be exiting the studio he founded in 2010 in the months ahead.

TJ Denzer

February 23, 2023 7:21 AM

Image via Tango Gameworks

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Shinji Mikami has been at Tango Gameworks since he founded the studio in 2010, but it seems The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush director is moving on to the next chapter of his life. Bethesda has announced that Shinji Mikami is confirmed to be stepping down at Tango Gameworks. He will complete his exit from the studio within the next few months.

Bethesda made the announcement of Mikami’s exit from Tango Gameworks via the Bethesda Twitter on February 23, 2023.

“We can confirm that Shinji Mikami has decided to leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months,” Bethesda’s statement reads. “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.”

The statement doesn’t speak much to what comes next for Mikami, and there has been no official communications on the matter from Mikami himself or the Tango Gameworks Twitter. However, it could very well be that Mikami is simply looking to make his move towards retirement. Shinji Mikami is 57 years old at this time of writing and has had an illustrious career in the game industry that spanned direction of the very first Resident Evil all the way through Resident Evil 4. He also worked on iconic franchises such as Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, Onimusha, and Phoenix Wright.

All of that led up to founding Tango Gameworks where Mikami led direction on The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush, the last of which was a very different game from anything we’ve seen out of Tango and was a surprise hit early this year.

Whatever comes next for Shinji Mikami, the gaming industry has certainly been better for him. Shacknews joins the industry on wishing him well, no matter what comes next. As we await further details on his exit and the future of Tango Gameworks, stay tuned for updates here at Shacknews.

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.