Shinji Mikami, the founder and CEO of Hi-Fi Rush, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, is departing the Japanese studio after 12 years.
TrueAchievements shared the news after obtaining an email sent by Bethesda senior vice president of development Todd Vaughn, who broke the news to staff at the company.
The contents of that email have since been verified by Bethesda, which must now figure out how to replace Mikami following their departure.
“I am writing today to let you know that studio head Shinji Mikami has decided to leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months,” wrote 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.”
Mikami began his career at Capcom in the ’90s, working on some of the company’s most notable projects. He directed the first entry in both the Resident Evil and Dino Crisis series, and eventually returned to the Resident Evil franchise to direct a remake of the original title and Resident Evil 4.
After leaving Capcom, Mikami joined PlatinumGames to work on Vanquish before founding Tango Gameworks in 2010. The studio was acquired by Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media shortly after.
In a follow-up statement sent to TrueAchievements, Bethesda wished Mikami well but didn’t mention why the long-serving CEO is leaving the studio he established over a decade ago.
“We wish Mikami-san well in the future and are excited by what lies ahead for the talented developers at Tango,” said the company.