The Evil Within is Epic Games Store’s next free game – as Shinji Mikami teases his return

The Epic Games Store has confirmed next week's free games, one of which is the very seasonally appropriate The Evil Within.

If you were looking for a pretty good horror game to play through this Halloween, Epic Games has you covered. Starting October 19, you'll be able to claim the Tango Gameworks developed and Bethesda published The Evil Within, directed by none other than Resident Evil 1 through 4 director Shinji Mikami. Released in 2014, The Evil Within very much feels like a spiritual successor of sorts to the Resident Evil 4 era of games, where you play as Sebastian Castellanos, a former police officer who gets roped into a horrifying world filled with all kinds of monsters. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but it's got some good scares and monster designs, and for the price of free you really can't go wrong.

It's good timing, too, as it seems like Mikami has teased his intention to return to the world of game development. Earlier this year, it was reported that Mikami had left Tango Gameworks, the very studio he founded, which seemingly resulted in a non-compete clause. "Now that I've broken the spell of non-competition on myself, I guess I should get to work," Mikami tweeted yesterday, implying that the clause has now finished. PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya seems to be going through something similar, as he himself recently left the Bayonetta developer. Kamiya has started his own YouTube channel, where he explained that he signed a non-compete agreement which lasts a year, so we won't see a new game from him for a while.

If you aren't interested in picking up The Evil Within on the Epic Games Store next week, Eternal Threads will also be free for the same period of time, another title that looks potentially appropriate for the season that follows "six main characters through multiple decisions across multiple timelines and you can experience these in any way you choose." A bit vague, but hey, once again it's free so what have you got to lose?