Mr. Resident Evil signs a deal with Mr. Stellar Blade
Resident Evil legend Shinji Mikami’s new studio, Unbound Inc., has been acquired by Shift Up, the company behind Starblade And Goddess of victory: Nikke. Unbound’s unannounced games will be fully supported and distributed by South Korean publisher Shift Up, led by CEO Hyung-Tae Kim.
Mikami is an icon of Japanese horror as the director of resident Evilits 2002 remake and Resident Evil 4as well as founder of PlatinumGames and Tango Gameworks. Tango was responsible for The Evil Within series, Ghost Thread Tokyo And Rush to Hi-Fi. Shift Up recently developed the hit action game Starbladewith Kim as director.
Even with an adorably grotesque intro video, it’s unclear what exactly Unbound is working on at the moment, but the studio is targeting the global PC and console market. Its concepts involve many monsters, as tradition dictates.
Consider the surface-level possibilities right here: the campy horror of Resident Evil mixed with the melodramatic beauty of Starblade. The frenzy of Rush to Hi-Fi amplified by the anime styles of Goddess of victory: Nikke. The evil within IIIbut make it sexy. These are jokes, but the feeling remains: this partnership makes a lot of sense and it will be exciting to see what comes of it.
“We believe we can respect each other as creators and make games together,” Mikami said in a Shift Up blog post about the deal. “And I think with Hyung-Tae, we can even enjoy the tough times… Seeing my own vision and ideals come into focus like this, and finding someone whose leadership aligns so closely is something I’ve rarely experienced before in my career. I hope we continue to build together for a long time.”
It’s also encouraging to see the stability of Mikami’s new studio. His previous team, Tango Gameworks, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021, and Mikami left in 2023 after the release of Rush to Hi-Fi. Microsoft shut down Tango in 2024 during a period of mass layoffs in the gaming industry, and its remaining team was eventually sold to Krafton. Mikami has been quietly building his own studio since 2022.
