Bokeh Game Studio, the Tokyo-based game studio founded by ex-PlayStation developers, has hired Siren concept artist Miki Takahashi. The studio uploaded a nearly 10-minute video introducing Takahashi, who helped design some of Siren‘s most iconic “Shibito” enemy designs. The video explains how Takahashi initially came into the video game industry, as well as her role in the development of Siren, Forbidden Siren 2, and Siren: Blood Curse.
Takahashi herself is also a former employee of Sony Interactive Entertainment, which underwent a restructuring earlier this year. The restructuring resulted in the official closing of Japan Studios, as well as the departure of several high-profile employees such as Silent Hill and Siren creator Keiichiro Toyama. Toyama eventually went on to found Bokeh Game Studio along with fellow ex-Japan Studio devs Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura. Bokeh is now working on an unannounced horror game coming out in 2023, which Takahashi is now a concept designer on.
In the introduction video, Takahashi explains how she had a love for drawing dark art since she was a child. Though she initially studied design at university, Takahashi says that she became interested in working in the video game industry after learning about computer-generated graphics and animation. She eventually joined SIE mid-way through the development of the first Siren game and helped design the game’s Shibito enemy designs. Takahashi later worked on the game’s sequel, Forbidden Siren 2, and once again designed both the Shibito and Yamibito enemies as well as their backgrounds. She describes her work on the Siren series as “lucky,” stating:
My drawings have been dark since I was a child. This is simply the style that brings me peace, that I am comfortable with. This is why I feel lucky that I got to work on the Siren series. I feel that my strengths were truly fitting for the games.
After his departure from SIE, Toyama reached out to Takahashi to tell her about his new studio and urged her to join. Takahashi eventually took him up on the offer and also revealed that she is currently working on enemy designs for Bokeh Studio’s untitled horror game. Notably, Takahashi states that the enemies in the game have a “part of them that used to be human.” Additionally, the enemies will apparently be not only terrifying or grotesque but also have “a part of sorrow linked to them,” and in some cases a “more laughable part too.”
