Former Ghostwire Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura has formalized his studio. Unseen will showcase artists and change the way games are made.
You may not be familiar with the name, but Ikumi Nakamura came to prominence during E3 2019 at the 2019 Bethesda Conference. Highlighted by Shinji Mikami, she took the stage to announce Ghostwire Tokyo as the game’s creative director, but since then the netizen’s darling has left Tango Gameworks to found her studio. After a few months out in the open she presents it to us and here it is Unseen.
Ikumi goes solo
Ikumi Nakamura had preferred to fly alone so as not to ruin his health too much and we now know more about his new studio. Starting with the name: Unseen. In terms of philosophy, the official website summarizes the company as follows:
We are mysterious and limitless game development studio created by artists.
Despite not always obvious years, pandemic and motherhood, she is back in the industry with more certainty:
As an artist, developer and mother, I have always felt like I was on a lifelong search for my place. When the pandemic hit, my view of the world changed. I was worried about how the changes in the world, aside from becoming a mother, would change the designer in me. At the end of the day, I’m still the same designer.
Unseen: a studio that wants to push boundaries
Following the confidants of her personal situation in the video above, Ikumi Nakamura explains Unseen’s priorities for where she will remain in her position as creative director. The developer wants to continueApproach game design in a different wayNext by artists shared by all cultures differentlyand not limited to the video game industry :
I’m forming a new team in a way I’ve never experienced before. Working and learning with this incredible group of talent sets the bar very high for all of us. I love to push boundaries and get people to say “wow”.. The studio in Tokyo is like a crossroads of different cultures. A meeting place for artists. We want to transcend ourselves beyond the video game.
She also explains Unseen’s choice:
As artists, we use our imagination to see the invisible. We are invisible, we are limitless, we are artists. We work unseen. We are a group of artists who cross national borders and work unseen. We are invisible.
Obviously she is not alone and here are the first recruits:
Misuzu Watanabe, Game Director, was Game Designer on Devil May Cry 5. The other members were able to work on major productions such as Far Cry, Crysis, Bayonetta, Resident Evil or The Evil Within, licensed by the former Ikumi Nakamura studio.
