Resident Evil creator teases next game as he joins forces with Stellar Blade dev

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up has acquired Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s new studio, and appears to show a glimpse from his next game.

There has been some mystery surrounding Shinji Mikami’s next project after he founded new studio Unbound Games in 2023, but we may have just got our first look at the title.

Mikami is best known for his time at Capcom, as director on 1996’s Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and Resident Evil 4. He later founded Tango Gameworks in 2010, where he directed 2014’s The Evil Within and produced Hi-Fi Rush.

Since leaving Tango Gameworks in 2023, Mikami has established a new studio for an ‘original AAA’ console game, according to recent job listings. Now, in a somewhat unexpected move, Unbound Games has announced a partnership with Stellar Blade developer Shift Up.

The Korean developer has acquired all shares of Mikami’s Tokyo-based Unbound Games, and will publish the studio’s future games.

Speaking about the partnership, Mikami said: ‘I am very pleased to be partnering with Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim and all the employees. I sense strong synergy with CEO Kim, who is also an active creator, and I believe this is an ideal partnership that allows us to focus on creativity. We will do our best to create fun games so that both companies, working as one, can meet our fans’ expectations.’

It’s unclear whether Mikami is directing the studio’s first game, but in an accompanying video for the partnership announcement, he confirmed he’ll be ‘fully involved’ on the title. ‘And for the first time in a while, I’ll be fully involved on-site to work on a fairly large game,’ Mikami said. ‘I’m really looking forward to it.’

While there’s no details on the project, there appears to be a tease at the end of the video, showing a giant flying monster towering over a ruined city. Shift Up shared a closer look at the monster on X, and it looks like something pulled from Bayonetta.

Along with Stellar Blade, Shift Up is known for 2022’s Goddess Of Victory: Nikke. It is currently working on a sequel to Stellar Blade, along with a new IP codenamed Project Spirits.

It’s believed there are around 53 employees at Unbound Games, including people who worked on Silent Hill, Shadow Of The Colossus, and Dead Rising. Several developers appear in the aforementioned video, including Sosuke Honda and Alessandro Silvestri, who are both billed as ‘game directors’ at the studio.

Speaking about the partnership, Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim said: ‘I find it deeply meaningful to join forces with Unbound, which brings together a world-class development team led by CEO Shinji Mikami.

‘This acquisition will serve as an opportunity to deliver the best gaming experience to users worldwide and further solidify Shift Up’s global development competitiveness.’

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