#Ghostwire Tokyo Creative Director and Badass Human Ikumi Nakamura Launches Indie Video Game Studio

The previous creative director on the upcoming video game Ghostwire Tokyo, who is most well known for her amazing presentation at E3 2019, has revealed via a documentary from the YouTube channel Cutscenes by Game*Spark and Archipel that she has launched her own indie video game studio. 

Ikumi Nakamura was filmed traversing through an abandoned building in Japan while reflecting on why she left Bethesha sub-studio Tango Softworks and her hopes for the yet-unnamed studio. Nakamura, who also worked on the backgrounds of Okami, said that she felt the weight of being a game director at Tango was affecting her health, and that she was “running away in a way.” Though mentions that she believes “that running away can be very positive. Rather than stacking things upon oneself, I think that running away for something better is the healthier choice.” She’s looking to trust her team more in this new studio.

Nakamura’s hope for the studio is for it to become a diverse place for game creators of all genders, ethnicities, and people. After the E3 presentation, she mentions that she received over 2,000 messages on LinkedIn, with 80% of them from women proud to see a female game director showing off her work on such a large platform, with the others offering her the opportunity to tour other game studios and help. Nakamura wants to use everything she’s learned to help make the new studio “a good working environment.” She also hopes other game studios in Japan will follow suit.

On her next game, Nakamura mentions that she wants “to make a game full of dark jokes” and “to stop making games too seriously.” She then compares herself to Deadpool, “who’s left out of the Avengers.” Nakamura wishes she could tell us more, but for what she’s teased, and what we know about her, the future for Ikumi Nakamura can only be an exciting one.

Watch the full video below (click the CC button for English subs):

Sources: Cutscenes via IGN Japan and GameIndustry.biz

—-

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.