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GhostWire: Tokyo Game's Creative Director Ikumi Nakamura Establishes New Game Studio
posted on by Adriana Hazra
Ikumi Nakamura, former creative director of Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire: Tokyo game, announced her new independent game development studio Unseen on Thursday. She announced the new studio with a video introduction.
Notable staff at the new studio also includes:
- Naoki Katakai as CDO & Environment Art Specialist (formerly at Tango Gameworks)
- Liam Wong as Visual Director (formerly at Ubisoft)
- Raúl Ibarra as Animation Director (formerly at Moon Studios)
- Misuzu Watanabe as Game Director (formerly at CAPCOM)
- NASS as Concept Artist and Illustrator
Nakamura stated in an interview with IGN that the studio is building a team of international staff with a "mix of cultures [that] can be a breeding ground for new ideas." The studio is currently recruiting staff for art and animation, design, engineering, technical, community, and other departments. Nakamura stated that the studio's first game is currently in development and that she wants "to make a game with characters that reflect real-life personalities and minorities, with an open-minded setting that represents multiple cultures."
Nakamura also stated she wants Unseen to work on more than just games, stating she wants to "make new IP that can work as a variety of entertainment media." She gave anime, education, and apparel as examples.
The studio's level designer designed Unseen's development floor in Unreal Engine 5.
Nakamura announced her departure from Tango Gameworks in September 2019. She announced that she was establishing an independent studio in March 2021 in her "Remnant Tour" documentary.
Nakamura worked as creative director, art director, and concept artist at Tango Gameworks and Zenimax for nine years. She had worked on Ghostwire: Tokyo for several years before leaving the project.
Nakamura wrote the story, scenario, and character settings for Ghostwire: Tokyo. She also designed concept art for characters, creatures, and the setting key visual. She served as a concept artist on Tango Gameworks' The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2 games. Nakamura worked on Platinum Games' Bayonetta as a concept artist and on CAPCOM's Okami as an environment artist.
