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[ergem]

Phil Spencer gonna get mad, he will buy Capcom and Platinum Games.

 

[DevilHunterX0]

God Hand remake on PS5, maybe?

 

[cireza]

That's quite brutal for MS.

 

[GHG]

GHG brother, it’s time to post the graphic.

With pleasure.

What a bunch of Sony fanatics!

 

[Northeastmonk]

God Hand remake on PS5, maybe?

They’d probably outsource that to some developer we’ve never heard from before.

I really liked both EW games. I wonder if he had a lot of creative freedom where he was at. Working for a company owned by almighty MS. Idk if he’s the type to kickstart his own smaller project, but he’s probably smarter about the risks involved with doing so.

 

[Ezekiel_]

Hoping he's not retiring and going to form a new studio

 

[NikuNashi]

Meanwhile in an izakaya in Tokyo.

Friend : What you been up to recently?

Mikami: just released a great new game.

Friend : Nice, I will play it, Is it on switch?

Mikami: Nope.

Friend: Is it on PS5?

Mikami: Nope, its on Xbox.

Friend: Whats an X box?

Mikami : Oh fck this.

 

[SlimySnake]

This is fucking nuts. Microsoft is willing to spend $70 billion on cod but won’t bother retaining legendary talent. I’m just baffled by this.

 

[Hugare]

Dude havent directed a game for 10 years

When they announced that Hifi Rush was directed by another dude yet again, I went "Jesus, whats Mikami really doing?"

Hope that wherever he goes next, he actually puts his hands on deck this time

Always sad to see the creator of the company leaving it. Must affect morale of the whole crew a lot.

 

[GHG]

This is fucking nuts. Microsoft is willing to spend $70 billion on cod but won’t bother retaining legendary talent. I’m just baffled by this.

 

[Needlecrash]

WOW. This is a big loss for Bethesda/Tango Gameworks. Didn't see this coming.

 

[AlteredForms]

But where's he going to go though? Mikami departed Capcom after a long run and becoming disillusioned with survival horror, then he forms Tango Gameworks to bring it back to the roots with The Evil Within and now he's leaving there. Clearly he's heading for retirement, I don't see another game in the works with him.

 

[Punished Miku]

This is fucking nuts. Microsoft is willing to spend $70 billion on cod but won’t bother retaining legendary talent. I’m just baffled by this.

I'm sure MS would have preferred for him to stay, so I don't know why you think they just didn't even notice that a studio head was leaving or didn't care.

 

[Topher]

fanatics.

 

[.Pennywise]

Are you under the assumption Mikami directed Ghostwire or something?

Huh? He didn't even direct TEW2, his role at Tango became more of an Executive Producer than anything.

But here we are with people calling Tango doomed already

 

[Punished Miku]

Huh? He didn't even direct TEW2, his role at Tango became more of an Executive Producer than anything.

But here we are with people calling Tango doomed already

It's not doomed yet, but they need to explain what is going on over there. They don't yet know who the new studio head is even, which is bizarre. You would announce this kind of thing and announce the replacement at the same time. Mikami may not have been directly involved in development, but he would be a factor in talent retention and recruitment. And they lost the Ghostwire director mid-development as well in a very public way. Just a huge unknown at the moment.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

-Highly successful and wealthy studio head leaves after being in the same position for THIRTEEN YEARS and being 58 years old.

-Neogaf- "He's definitely leaving because he hates Microsoft and wants to make a Sony game, that's literally the only possible reason for him to leave"

Maybe that's true, but I'd guess there are scenarios that are more likely, like wanting to take a break, or lower his workload, or retire, or pursue some other hobbies, or wants a new challenge or to start from scratch with a new studio. We won't know unless he makes some official statement about it, but assuming it's primarily because of Microsoft with no evidence to back it up and not any number of other possible scenarios just shows your bias

 

[SEGA_2012]

Tango is dead without him.

 

[donfonzie]

Microsoft is the main villain of the gaming industry

There are no heroes or villains. Just organizations trying to make a profit.

 

[SSfox]

So Tango is officially not a Japanese studio anymore

Tango is dead without him.

Dead? idk, but nothing for me? def yes.

 

[adamsapple]

He's made some of the best games of my lifetime. Hope he has a nice retirement.

So many embarrassing replies in this topic so far, the guy's mission statement for making Tango Gameworks was that he wanted to train the next generation of directors. Johannas is an excellent protege.

 

[SlimySnake]

so I don't know why you think they just didn't even notice that a studio head was leaving or didn't care.

Microsoft is willing to spend $70 billion on cod but won’t bother retaining legendary talent.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

The real problem of those acquisitions is how to retain talent. Imagine Microsoft owning COD but losing the people who made the game what it is. It will be their next Halo.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

They don't need him at this point. Neither EW2 or Hi Fi Rush were directed or produced by him. John Johanas directed both and he is doing an amazing job.

Damage Control.

 

[decisions]

Honestly I am happy about this, unless he retires (which if he did, he would absolutely deserve it).

I don't really think Tango's output has been amazing (even Hi-fi Rush I found to be just OK), would much rather see him working at one of the bigger Japanese companies like Capcom, or joining that M-Two startup would even be more exciting. I bet he was planning this since MS bought ZeniMax.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

He's made some of the best games of my lifetime. Hope he has a nice retirement.

So many embarrassing replies in this topic so far, the guy's mission statement for making Tango Gameworks was that he wanted to train the next generation of directors. Johannas is an excellent protege.

"So many embarrassing replies in this topic"

oh, the irony.

 

[ungalo]

Wasn't it rumored that he's been working with Capcom on Dino Crisis ?

 

[Punished Miku]

Wasn't it rumored that he's been working with Capcom on Dino Crisis ?

Yes, and they specified that Tango wasn't involved - which was the strange part about that.

 

[RedC]

 

[Draugoth]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

no surprising, faster than i thought tho.
we all know that sony paid a lot of money to retain talent (for a specific amount of time) with the Bungie acquisition. after that time some people will leave as well.

 

[bluecowboys]

He didn’t direct TEW2 and hi fi rush so tango works should still be good.

 

[Fbh]

Pretty surprising though at least he does seem to have spent the last 10 years fostering new talent to take over after him.
While I'm sure he still had a significant role in recent Tango games, he hasn't been credited as a director on anything since TEW1

At his age I wonder if he'll go somewhere else or retire.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Pretty surprising though at least he does seem to have spent the last 10 years fostering new talent to take over after him.
While I'm sure he still had a significant role in recent Tango games, he hasn't been credited as a director on anything since TEW1

At his age I wonder if he'll go somewhere else or retire.

someone will correct you

 

[Hendrick's]

With pleasure.

What a bunch of Sony fanatics!

Are you admitting that all PS players are fanboys? That actually adds up.

 

[intheinbetween]

Yes, and they specified that Tango wasn't involved - which was the strange part about that.

Then it would be M-Two Inc. the one behind that

 

[begotten]

Left to go work on Halo, Gears and Forza.

 

[Jaybe]

Probably didn’t want to make keep making games that his friends and family wouldn’t play. I can imagine being psyched for people you know personally and that are fans of your games to play your product youve been working years on like HiFi Rush, then bam, exclusive to systems barely in Japan, and shadow dropped too.

 

[Elios83]

At his age starting a new studio is not an easy task but it's possible, retiring is a realistic option if he got tired of his job but I guess the most likely outcome is that he'll join an other publisher.

 

[Punished Miku]

At his age starting a new studio is not an easy task but it's possible, retiring is a realistic option if he got tired of his job but I guess the most likely outcome is that he'll join an other publisher.

He's not starting a new studio. Zero chance.

He collaborated with Platinum for just 1 game. He will likely collaborate with an existing studio for 1 game if he's not retiring.

 

[Ozriel]

Do people think there’s no succession planning in gaming? Or that talent and skill is the sole province of the old guard.

Mario and Zelda games didn’t become shite as soon as Miyamoto stopped active game development. Mikami moved on and yet Resident Evil is still going strong.

The man’s been planning to retire from Tango and do something different, so this isn’t particularly surprising. Now if it were John Johanas leaving…that would be cause for alarm.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Huge miss for MS.

Still, I wouldn't doompost on Tango just yet, their last game was pretty cool and Mikami was credited just as an executive something.

 

[Draugoth]

 

[Varteras]

I do recall there being rumors that he wasn't happy with Zenimax. This was before the acquisition.

 

[[Sigma]]

You know what that doesn't sound. Retirement. It's getting

 

[yurinka]

Very talented dude, will be missed:

• Game designer: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (GB), Aladdin (SNES), Goof Troop
• Writer: Killer 7
• Director: RE, RE Director's Cut, Dino Crisis, RE4, P.N.03, God Hand, Vanquish, Evil Within
• Producer: RE2, RE3, Dino Crisis, RE Code Veronica, Steel Battalion, ("Creative producer") Shadows of the Damned
• Executive producer: Dino Crisis 2, Devil May Cry, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Dino Crisis 3, Viewtiful Joe, Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, Killer 7, Ace Attorney - Justice for All, Evil Within 2, Hi-Fi Rush
• Advisor or executive advisor: Onimusha, RE 0, Resident Evil: Gaiden

I do recall there being rumors that he wasn't happy with Zenimax. This was before the acquisition.

He's 57 years old, so fucking rich and sold his studio some years ago. Very likely he's simply retiring to enjoy his Ferrari.

 

[SF Kosmo]

He's been pretty hands off in recent years, at least creatively, which one has to assume is a choice. It's hard to imagine what else he could be looking for besides running his own successful studio. Maybe he got hired to work on a major project or IP elsewhere and couldn't say no.

 

[Varteras]

He's 57 years old, so fucking rich and sold his studio some years ago. Very likely he's simply retiring to enjoy his Ferrari.

Quite possibly true.

 

[adamsapple]

He's 57 years old, so fucking rich and sold his studio some years ago. Very likely he's simply retiring to enjoy his Ferrari.

If he decides to hang it up and not keep coming back like Kojima, it won't be surprising.

 

[j.k.2021]

He will likely create another studio so he can be independent and wouldn't have to work under someone.