Although he is best known for creating Resident Evil franchise, Shinji Mikami's influence and history in the gaming industry goes much deeper than that touchstone IP. This breadth and diversity of experience is hopefully harnessed by Mikami in his new studio Unbound Games, which he founded in 2023 after leaving Hi-Fi Rush and The evil within studio Tango Gameworks.
Unbound Games' first release is still shrouded in mystery, but we now know a little more about the organization thanks to the establishment of its website last year. The Unbound Games site is, unsurprisingly, vague about the company's first release, though it does a good bit to set the tone for its ambitions and paint a largely positive picture of what's to come. And despite his Resident Evil roots, Mikami's next project might not be horror-related at all.
Shinji Mikami's unbound games will focus on “High-End” experiences
It's kind of sad that this even needs to be said, but Unbound Games has made it clear that it's focusing on “advanced consumer gaming software for home use”, and specifies that it won't be making mobile games. Hopefully, this also indicates that the unnamed product won't be defined by problematic monetization or forced live-service antics, both of which have swallowed new studios whole in the past.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
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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 another indication of Unbound's planned scope. Interestingly, the producer is Masato Kimura, who has previously worked together with Mikami on games such as Devil May Cry and Resident Evildescribed Unbound as “striving for AAA quality and AA content.” This would indicate that, regardless of the studio's debut IP, it probably won't be a massive, sprawling adventure, multiplayer title, MMO, et cetera. Mikami is at his best when working on tight, focused projects like The evil withinso this is definitely promising.
According to Unbound Games' job postings, the company is looking to develop “challenging smaller titles” in addition to its AAA titles.
Great talent seems to define unattached games
Worth noting is that Shinji Mikami and Masato Kimura are far from the only ones at Unbound Games with great industry knowledge. According to the company's website, its staff includes employees who have worked on a variety of games and franchises, including:
- Silent Hill
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Okay
- Dead Rising
- Lost Planet
- El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
While this obviously doesn't mean that Unbound Games' debut will in any way be an amalgamation of these previously mentioned titles, the diversity within this pool of experience is quite exciting. Here we have professionals who have worked on some of the best, 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 might not necessarily be a horror title
Mikami built his reputation on the horror genre, but a look at the man's work history will reveal that his interests are much broader. As a director, Mikami has worked on not only Resident Evil and The evil withinbut also PN 03 and Defeatwhich are high-octane science fiction shooters, and God Handa bold and avant-garde 3D action brawler. He has also worked on a variety of other innovative games, such as Devil May Cry, Appearance Joeand Killer 7either as a writer or producer.
All of this is to say that Mikami has experience working on non-horror games, and there's a very good chance that Unbound's first title, if directed by Mikami himself, won't be a horror experience at all. The director has written about his interest in other genres, telling Variety in 2020 that he'd be interested in “everything from puzzle games to RPGs,” so we should brace ourselves for the possibility that his next project will be completely unexpected.
