Mikami's next game will be last as director

Shinji Mikami's first game for his new bosses at ZeniMax will be his last as director, but he's intending to go out with a bang.

In an interview with Famitsu translated by 1Up, the Resident Evil creator said, "That's something I was planning for from the start. I can only last for so long handling both director and company president duties, and besides, I want to give our younger developers a chance.

"Knowing that, of course, makes me want to put all of my experience, my energy, and everything else I've got into this game. I'm pretty lucky that [ZeniMax] was willing to accept that, too. Too many publishers are only interested in the very near future, after all."

Mikami gave no clue as to what sort of game he was planning, though sketches that popped up on Tango Gameworks' website the other day might offer a hint.

One thing's for sure though - it's going to cost his studio's new owners an awful lot of money to bankroll.

"That's the only sort of title we're interested in," said Tetsu Takahashi, general manager of Bethesda's Asian operations.

"Any such project is going to involve tens of millions of dollars either way, so instead of cutting dev time and features and hoping for a million copies sold, it's better to take your time, make something great, and aim for five million instead. We believe that there's actually less risk when you do it that way."

ZeniMax announced it had purchased Mikami's Tango Gameworks studio last month for an undisclosed figure.

Mikami has just finished up the excellent Vanquish for Platinum Games and is currently helping Suda51 out with Shadows of the Damned for EA.