However, he is known for his creativity Resident Evil Shinji Mikami's influence and history on the franchise, the games industry, goes much deeper than that touchstone IP. This breadth and diversity of experience is, hopefully, what Mikami is leveraging at his new studio Unbound Games, which he founded after his departure in 2023. Hi-Fi Rush and The evil within Studio Tango Gameworks.
Unbound Games' inaugural release is still shrouded in mystery, but we now know a little more about the organization thanks to the launch of its website last year. The Unbound Games site is, surprisingly, vague about the company's first release, though it does a good job of setting the tone for its ambitions, painting a broadly positive picture of what lies ahead. And in spite of him Resident Evil Roots, Mikami's next project may not be horror-related.
Shinji Mikami's Unbound Games will focus on “high-end” experiences
It's a bit sad that it even needs to be said, but Unbound Games has made it clear that it's focused on “high-end consumer game software for home use”, specifying that it doesn't make mobile games. Hopefully, it also indicates that the unknown product won't be defined by problematic monetization or forced live-service antics, both of which have swallowed up new studios in the past.
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Right now, Unbound Games has about 50 employees, but it is constantly expanding, hoping to reach about 150 total employees; This staffing goal is a further indication of Unbound's planned scope. Interestingly, creator Masato Kimura, who has previously worked on games like Mikami cried the devil and Resident EvilUnbound was described as “aiming for AAA quality and AA content”. This indicates that, whatever the studio's debut IP is, it likely won't be a big, sprawling adventure, multiplayer title, MMO, etc. Mikami is at its best when working on tight, focused projects like this The evil withinSo it's definitely promising.
According to Unbound Games' job listing, the company is looking to develop “smaller challenging titles” in addition to its AAA.
Vast talent seems to define Unbound Games
Worth noting is that Shinji Mikami and Masato Kimura are far from the only ones with vast industry knowledge in Unbound Games. According to the company's website, its employees include employees who have worked on a variety of games and franchises, including:
- silent hill
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Okami
- Dead Rising
- lost planet
- El Shaddai: The Ascension of Metatron
While this obviously doesn't mean that the debut of Unbound Games will somehow be an amalgamation of these aforementioned titles, the diversity within this pool of experience is rather exciting. Here we have professionals who have worked on some of the greatest, most genre-defining gaming IPs of all time, from horror to platformers to RPGs. Ideally, this will result in a unique, unexpected first release.
Unbound Games' debut may not necessarily be a horror title
Mikami built his reputation in the horror genre, but a look at the man's work history will reveal that his interests are much broader. Mikami is not the only director Resident Evil and The evil withinHowever PN 03 and victorywhich are high-octane sci-fi shooters, and hand of godA bold and avant-garde 3D action-brawler. He has also worked on many other seminal games, viz cried the devil, Spectacular Joeand Killer 7Either as a writer or producer.
All of this to say that Mikami has experience working on non-horror games, and there's a very solid chance that Unbound's first title, if directed by Mikami himself, won't be a horror experience. The director has gone on record regarding his interests in other genres, telling Variety in 2020 that he'll be interested in “everything from puzzle games to RPGs,” so we should prepare for the possibility that his next project will be completely unexpected.
