Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami partners with Stellar Blade devs Shift Up to make “smaller, experimental titles alongside a large-scale flagship”

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Shinji Mikami, the director of Resident Evil and producer of Devil May Cry, who previously led Tango Gameworks, has joined Shift Up, the studio behind the action game Stellar Blade – known for its visuals and engaging combat. Shift Up recently acquired Mikami’s independent studio, Unbound, which he started in 2022 after leaving Tango Gameworks. Stellar Blade also features downloadable content including a version of the character 2B from Nier: Automata.

Mikami and the team at Shift Up are working on something for Stellar Bladesmiths, but they aren’t ready to share details yet. However, they’ve mentioned a strategy of “parallel development,” which means creating both smaller, innovative games and a major flagship title. This allows them to be ambitious and take risks without compromising their larger projects.

Something seems off with this translation – it doesn’t quite make sense to say they’re giving up goals to be more risky. Although, I suppose not having any goals could be considered a risk. The important thing is that Unbound is likely working on multiple games. They’ve said before they want to create high-quality PC and console games, even with a relatively small team of around 50 people.

Shift Up’s CEO, Hyung-Tae Kim, recently shared his excitement about collaborating with a legendary game developer. Kim, who is relatively young, explained he’s been a fan of this developer, Shinji Mikami, since childhood, and said it’s a deeply meaningful experience to be working with him now.

Mikami expressed a strong connection with CEO Kim, seemingly sensing a shared darkness or hidden power between them – a feeling he demonstrated by almost comically holding his hand up to Kim’s face, as if reading his energy.

The press release includes comments from Unbound employees about how Mikami runs things. They say working with him is different from most studios. One employee explained that he works alongside the team, making him approachable and easy to talk to. This is a much more casual environment than you’d find with someone like Yves Guillemot, who is far less accessible.

As a big fan, I’m wondering what Shinji Mikami should create next. I’d love to see him move beyond the Resident Evil style games he’s known for and try something more action-focused, like his earlier titles Viewtiful Joe or Vanquish. In fact, Alec Meer described the PC version of Vanquish as “a genuinely fun game with great movement, controls, and some really clever battles.”

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2026-04-01 15:55