Legendary designer Shinji Mikami to leave Tango Gameworks and Xbox

Tango Gameworks’ co-founder and legendary game director Shinji Mikami is to leave the studio within the coming months, Bethesda has confirmed. Mikami set up Tango after leaving Platinum Games, which he had also co-founded with several Capcom alumni. His career began at Capcom where he was quickly recognised as a singular talent, and he cut his directorial teeth on a licensed 16-bit game (Goof Troop, of all things) before going on to design and direct the game that would make his name: Resident Evil.

A company email began circulating earlier today and has now been confirmed as authentic by Bethesda, which has released its own statement. “I am writing today to let you know that studio head Shinji Mikami has decided to leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months,” said Bethesda SVP Todd Vaughn. “Mikami-san has been a creative leader and supportive mentor to young developers at Tango for 12 years through his work on the Evil Within franchise, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and of course, Hi-Fi Rush.”