Shinji Mikami to join AIAS Hall of Fame at 2026 DICE Awards

Diego Argüello,Contributing Editor, News,GameDeveloper.com

September 16, 2026

schedule2 Min ReadShinji Mikami photograph provided by AIAS

The prolific game developer and one of the pioneers of the Resident Evil series, Shinji Mikami, will receive the Hall of Fame Award at the 30th annual DICE Awards ceremony on February 18 of next year.

As announced today by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), Mikami, current creative director and CEO of Unbound, will be honored for his career in the game industry, which has spanned over 30 years.

Grasshopper Manufacture CEO and lead game designer Goichi Suda, best known as Suda 51, will be presenting the award. Suda and Mikami previously worked together on the likes of Killer7 and Shadows of the Damned.

"It was from Mikami-san that I learned how to approach game development, both as a director and as a designer," Suda said in the announcement. "Of all the many Padawans Mikami-san has mentored, I'm truly honored that I was chosen to be his presenter for this induction into a kind of video game hall-of-fame. As one such Padawan, please allow me to celebrate my Obi-Wan Kenobi, Shinji Mikami, through this honorable award. I'm sure Mikami-san's innumerable fans and industry comrades are just as delighted as I am to see him receive such an amazing award."

"Shinji Mikami is a monumental and influential figure for both fans and developers alike," AIAS president Meggan Scavio said. "He has continually demonstrated his originality and creative vision that resonates and inspires the action game genre. We are honored to be able to celebrate Mikami-san's achievements and induct him into our Hall of Fame during our 30th anniversary of the DICE Awards."

Mikami founded and led The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, but made for the exit before the studio was sold to Krafton by Microsoft. He then established Unbound towards the end of 2022.

Early this year, Stellar Blade developer Shift Up acquired Unbound for an undisclosed fee. The company said the move is intended to expand Unbound's publishing footprint while bolstering its development capabilities with "world class" talent.

The DICE Awards, and Mikami's induction into the AIAS Hall of Fame, will air on Thursday, February 18.

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About the Author

Diego Argüello

Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.

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