Ikumi Nakamura
Ikumi Nakamura | |
---|---|
中村 育美 | |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation | Video game artist, director |
Years active | 2004–present[1] |
Employer |
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Ikumi Nakamura (Japanese: 中村 育美, Hepburn: Nakamura Ikumi) is a Japanese video game artist and director. She is best known for her work at Tango Gameworks as an artist on The Evil Within (2014) and The Evil Within 2 (2017), and as creative director for Ghostwire: Tokyo before leaving the company mid-development. She also did artwork for Ōkami (2006) at Clover Studio, and Bayonetta (2009) at PlatinumGames. She now heads her own independent game studio.
Early life[]
Ikumi Nakamura enjoyed horror media with her father growing up. They watched horror films together, and enjoyed playing the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry series, both produced by Capcom. She developed an appreciation for the studio and dreamed to work there when she was older. While studying at university, her father died in a motorcycle accident. His death reinforced her desire to work at Capcom.[1] She attended an art school in Tokyo, and later studied game design at the Amusement Media Academy.[1]
Career[]
Capcom[]
After applying twice, Nakamura was hired by Capcom in 2004.[1] She joined the internal development team Clover Studio and created background art for Ōkami (2006).[1][3]
PlatinumGames[]
Nakamura followed her Capcom colleagues when they left to form PlatinumGames.[1] Early on at the studio, she pitched an idea for an original Nintendo DS game. After Nintendo did not take interest to the project, it was canceled.[1] She served as a concept artist for Bayonetta (2009), and briefly worked on Scalebound as art director before leaving the company.[1]
Tango Gameworks[]
In 2010, Nakamura left PlatinumGames to join Shinji Mikami's new studio Tango Gameworks.[1] She served as artist for The Evil Within (2014) and The Evil Within 2 (2017),[1][4] and as creative director for Ghostwire: Tokyo.[4] Her presentation introducing the game at E3 2019 was widely heralded as a highlight of the press conference for Bethesda Softworks, Tango Gameworks' parent company.[5] However, Nakamura left the project and the company mid-development in 2019 due to her declining health.[4] The stress of developer-publisher politics and the publisher's ultimate control over Ghostwire: Tokyo left her unable to sleep and struggling with daily nightmares.[1]
Independent work[]
Since leaving Tango Gameworks, Nakamura has done consulting and freelance jobs.[1] In March 2021, she announced that she had started a new small independent game studio.[6][1]
Personal life[]
Nakamura lives in Tokyo.[1] She gave birth to her first child in 2020.[1][7]
Works[]
Year | Game | Studio |
---|---|---|
2006 | Ōkami | Clover Studio |
2009 | Bayonetta | PlatinumGames |
2014 | The Evil Within | Tango Gameworks |
2017 | The Evil Within 2 |
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hester, Blake (September 29, 2021). "The Life And Career Of Ikumi Nakamura". Game Informer. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
- ^ "Ikumi Nakamura". LinkedIn. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (10 June 2019). "Ikumi Nakamura Deserved Her E3 Moment". Kotaku. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Ikumi Nakamura". VGC. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia. "The internet is ready to die for Ikumi Nakamura, the most genuine person at E3". Polygon. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Oloman, Jordan (24 March 2021). "Fan Favorite Ex-Bethesda Director Ikumi Nakamura Opens Indie Studio". IGN. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Ikumi Nakamura [@nakamura193] (July 8, 2020). ""Are you alive?" Yes, I am! I released my new project which went live on June 1st. This will be the longest ongoing project I've ever taken on and I know it will bring the deepest joy and happiness to the world. I'm grateful to be able to help humanity live long and prosper" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
External links[]
- Women video game developers
- Video game artists
- Living people
- Capcom people
- Japanese video game designers