Stellar Blade developer Shift Up has bought Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s new studio, Unbound, and will help to create and publish its next game.
Mikami, the legendary Japanese designer also known for his work on Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis, and The Evil Within, founded Unbound after leaving Tango Gameworks prior to Microsoft’s closure of the studio — the Hi-Fi Rush developer has since been acquired and reopened by PUBG owner Krafton. This new enterprise was born in 2022 and has remained fully independent until now, having not released or revealed a project in that time.
Speaking in an announcement video, Mikami teased that he was working on “a fairly large game,” insisting “we’re going to create a masterpiece of a game.”
“I’ve come to see my vision and ideals more clearly, and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where, as a creator, our wavelengths and direction align this closely,” he said. “So for as long as my career continues, I would really like to keep working together. And for the first time in a while, I’ll be fully involved on-site to work on a fairly large game, and I’m really looking forward to it. To all the gamers waiting for this, I hope you can wait just a little longer for its release. That’s how I feel. Thank you so much for everything. Thank you very much.”
According to a post on the Shift Up website, Unbound is currently “developing original PC and console-based IPs targeting the global market” and “the company plans to directly handle the publishing of Unbound’s upcoming titles and gradually build its own global service capabilities.”
The deal signals further ambition for the Korean developer, which launched action-adventure Stellar Blade to great success in 2024. A sequel is in the works after Stellar Blade sold over 3 million copies. Shift Up is also working on Project Spirits, to be published by Level Infinite.
Shift Up CEO Hyung-Tae Kim added: “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.”
It comes at a time when Asian, and in particular Korean, game development is finding success after success, with Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert currently the most talked about game in the world, selling 4 million copies in just 2 weeks.
Kim recently received the Presidential Commendation at last year’s Korean Content Awards for his work in the games industry. He was recognized for his contribution to the Korean games industry with the games Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Stellar Blade. “This Presidential Citation is thanks to the developers and fans who believed in and supported Shift Up,” Kim said at the time. “We will continue to do our best to further promote the competitiveness of Korean games on the global stage.”
While it’s a rare case for a game to be quite that prosperous, Mikami and Shift Up will certainly be aiming high with this new project. What would you like to see from it? Something that hails back to Mikami’s horror roots? Or something completely fresh like Hi-Fi Rush? Let us know in the comments!
Image credit: Shift Up.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
