Resident Evil 4 director Shinji Mikami talks about why he was so adamant on having the game be a GameCube exclusive

Resident Evil 4 is on a ton of different platforms now, but that wasn’t always the case. Originally, it was created only for the GameCube. A big part of that was due to director Shinji Mikami.

Mikami signed an exclusive deal with Nintendo before Resident Evil 4’s launch. In an interview with Variety, he explained that the partnership came about due to concern for the gaming industry. Mikami had concerns that if the gaming endeavors from Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox didn’t work out, “they might just go back to what they’re good at and what they’re known for.”

Mikami added:

“At the time, I was thinking, ‘Well, Nintendo might be the only one left in the future that would have games for people – not just children, but also adults.’ That was the thinking at that time. And so I was wrong completely.”

Mikami also said the following about Resident Evil 4’s GameCube exclusivity:

“I do remember the chairman of Capcom, Tsujimoto Kenzo-san, called me in and asked me, ‘Are we really not going to release on other platforms?’” he says. “And I had to say, ‘Well, if you want to do that, you can do that, but you have to fire me first.'”

Resident Evil 4 is on a ton of different systems now, so it’s at least pretty accessible. It’s even available for Switch, allowing fans to play it on Nintendo’s latest console.