Shinji Mikami Could Direct Another Game If It Was Completely His Vision, “Beginning to End”

Shinji Mikami, the director behind Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 4, and The Evil Within, hasn’t directed a project in some time. That could possibly change though, if Mikami was given the chance to completely enact his vision.

In a new interview with Variety, Mikami discussed backing out of directing following The Evil Within. While he hasn’t left the industry, he’s been serving as executive producer since, on games like The Evil Within 2 and the upcoming Ghostwire: Tokyo. At the time, Mikami said The Evil Within would be the last game he’d ever direct, but it sounds like time has worn that down.

“My thinking is that if I had a chance to make a game from the beginning to end that’s completely my vision, then definitely, that would be my last big project as a director,” Mikami told Variety. “It would probably be more fitting as that ‘last game I direct’ kind of thing.”

Though The Evil Within was six years ago, Mikami in the director’s chair would be pretty interesting. The horror genre has been innovating in the years since, and with the spiritual return of Dead Space in The Callisto Protocol, the time seems ripe for another game from the director behind Resident Evil 4.

Mikami’s studio, Tango Gameworks, also falls under the Microsoft banner now, which could mean a fresh source for resources to make his project happen. This may just be idle speculation for now, seeing as the studio is still working on getting PS5 timed exclusive Ghostwire: Tokyo out the door. Stranger things have happened though, and it’s hard to think who wouldn’t be willing to give Mikami the shot he wants to conclusively direct on.