Mikami-san leaves Tango

Looks like Mikami is leaving Tango. Its unsure if he is retiring or going to work somewhere else at the moment.

Whats everyones thoughts?

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Sad to see him go, but can’t say it’s super unexpected either. He hasn’t made a game himself for a long time now. After the acquisition happened he said he wanted the new people, young people to shine, to have them make what they want etc. The way he worded that made it sound like he was taking it slower, his dream game didn’t seem to be on the planning much either anymore.

I wonder if he’s moving to another studio or if he’s retiring altogether. He could have left a few years ago, but didn’t because I bet he wanted to leave Tango while it’s in a good state, knowing that he’s leaving it to good people he can count on doing a great job.

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Yeah. I am assuming hes retiring because I would assume MS would have greenlit any game he wanted to make…

Though if thats the case I am sad we will never see that game.

I am not worried about the studio theyve show they can do great work…

I wish Mikami all the best whatever he does.

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That’s a shame, it was good for MS to have someone as respected as Mikami working there.

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wasnt there an article recently where he was talking about xbox and japan and thought he could really help with that?

Personally I don’t think it’s retirement and I won’t be surprised to see the Tencent or Netease article soon. Still, wish him all the best.

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This was like 2 years ago, things can change very quickly @Thebaconlife

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The writing has been on the walls for a few years now, he’s been preparing to have the studio run fine without him. He also took a backseat on the last few games by the studio.

It’s good to see people correcting idiots on Twitter that are bashing MS/Xbox, saying ridiculous crap like “Todd is next.” when Todd isn’t even at Tango, lmao. Matty calls it a bit curious timing so soon after HFR, but there is never a perfect time for these things. But this was a good time as any, he’s seen how well received HFR is, Johanas and team can hold their own.

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I guess you can never leave. You’ll live and die over here.

Some of the replies Phil got are beyond embarrassing. But not shocking, some folks are just idiots, simple as that.

Congratulations, you have passed the test. The test is understanding the social media.

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Mikami’s main goal with Tango was to foster new talent

John has now directed TEW dlc, TEW2 and Hi-Fi Rush all of which were well received and HFR seems to have been very successful in particular

If there was a time to move on and feel comfortable with the team, it’s probably now

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Sad to see him go, but hopefully he manages alright. with either retirement or making a new game.

But i do have to wonder on one single thing that kinda makes me curious:

Who is going to become the new Head of Tango Gameworks? Cause that to me is an important question. I don’t think is Jonh Jonhanas, even though i know for a fact that he will go far within Tango, but another person who helped make the founding of the studio alongside Mkami-san. Maybe Shigenori Nishikawa, who worked at capcom, platinum games and now tango. What do you guys and gals think?

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Who knows

But directing games is a different beast to running the studio in general and it might not be something JJ is interested in

I imagine Mikami already has has been preparing specific people for the role for years now

Well that sucks. I was hoping for that “dream game” from Mikami before he left but I guess its not meant to be.

Disappointing and sad news as I really wanted to see what Mikami’s dream game was going to be but outside of taking over Ghostwire Tokyo after Ikumi Nakamura left Tango Gameworks a few years ago, Mikami has basically been “overseeing” everything as opposed to working on anything like he did years ago. John Johanas has been at Tango Gameworks since it was founded and had Mikami “training” him to eventually take over. I enjoyed The Evil Within 2 and thought it was a great game (as is the first) and Hi Fi Rush is another great game so im personally confident in Johanas taking over the studio as this is what he’s been getting prepared to do for the last decade. I do believe that The Evil Within 3 is coming and it’s with Johanas obviously as the director.

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If he is leaving to create his sci-fi game, It would be wise that Microsoft go in and either get exclusivity or get marketing.

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I see tweets that way before the acquisition he had announced he was going to retire, but is that true? It’s clear that he was planning on leaving Tango, but truly retire? I can absolutely see it though.