Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami leaves Bethesda’s Tango Gameworks

Shinji Mikami was a prominent videogame director who’s works stretch back to the beginning Resident Evil to 2014’s The Evil WithinThe studio that he established is being closed by. Tango Gameworks and its parent company, Bethesda Softworks, confirmed Mikami’s departure in a message Thursday morning.

“We can confirm that Shinji Mikami has decided to leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months. He has been a supportive mentor and creative leader to the young creators of The Evil Within. We are grateful for that. Ghostwire: TokyoAnd, naturally, Hi-Fi Rush,” Bethesda said in a statement posted to Twitter. “We wish Mikami-san well in the future and are excited by what lies ahead for the talented developers at Tango.” Mikami himself has made no public statement on his departure.

Tango Gameworks, acquired by Bethesda shortly after Mikami left Capcom to start it in 2010, most recently developed the rhythm/beat-’em-up game Hi-Fi RushThe launch of, took place at the beginning of January. Before Tango created the survival horror adventure, Ghostwire: Tokyo,It was a limited-time, one-year exclusive to the PlayStation 5 and Windows PC in March 2022. Microsoft acquired Bethesda’s parent company and all of its studios, Tango Gameworks included, in 2020, and Tango and Bethesda still honored their standing commitments to develop PlayStation console exclusives.

Mikami, now 57 years old, started his game development career at Capcom in 1989. His first game was “The First.” Resident Evil and two of the franchise’s main characters — Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine — for Capcom in 1996. He moved to PlatinumGames in 2007, where he was the Director of Third-person Shooter. Vanquish, Publication date: October 2010. He founded Tango Gameworks in March 2010.

Tango Gameworks created four games for the console and computer. The Evil Within (2014, Mikami directed). The Evil Within 2 (2017), Ghostwire: Tokyo (2022), Hi-Fi Rush (2023).