Mikami says streamers aren't the problem — developers are

Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami has weighed in on the game-streaming debate, and his take is blunt: if watching a playthrough is enough to satisfy someone, that's a failure of game design, not a problem with streaming culture.

Mikami's comments came secondhand, via Japanese comedian and streamer Eiko Kano, who appeared on a late-night Japanese TV show and shared an anecdote about asking Mikami directly how he feels about streamers spoiling puzzle solutions and story twists. Mikami's response: "If viewers watching a game stream through to the ending feel satisfied, then that's all the game is worth. It's our job as game creators to make games that people want to try completing with their own hands, even if they have already watched the whole game." He then told Kano to keep streaming. Kano admitted he would have quit if Mikami had disapproved. Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii gave Kano a nearly identical answer when asked the same question.

Mikami isn't alone in this framing. Earlier this month, Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi called the trend of people watching RPGs instead of playing them a "crisis" — but like Mikami, he put the burden on developers rather than audiences. Hamaguchi argued that if a stream makes someone think "What would I do in that situation?", they'll be inspired to pick up the controller themselves, and concluded that "the world is changing, and entertainment must evolve with the times."

As for what Mikami is actually building next — Stellar Blade developer Shift Up acquired his studio Unbound earlier this year and announced plans to co-develop and publish its debut game. Mikami founded Unbound in 2022 after leaving Tango Gameworks before Microsoft shut it down. The studio has yet to reveal a project, but Mikami has teased he's working on "a fairly large game" and promised "we're going to create a masterpiece."