Platinum Games Co-Founder Hideki Kamiya Departs From His Own Company
Hideki Kamiya, the co-founder of Platinum Games and the director of the Bayonetta games, Okami, and Viewtiful Joe, is leaving the studio after a 16-year run. The company announced the news on Twitter, and Kamiya confirmed it:
As announced on the official PlatinumGames X account,
I will be leaving PlatinumGames on October 12, 2023.
This came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs.
and was by no means an easy decision to make.
(1/2)— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) September 25, 2023
Kamiya stated that his decision to leave the company was based on his own beliefs and was not an easy decision to make. He also said that he will continue to create in his own way and asked his fans to keep their eyes peeled. Platinum Games expressed their gratitude for Kamiya’s creative ideas, leadership, and contribution to the growth of the company. They believe that he will continue to succeed in his future endeavors as a game creator and wish him all the best for the future.
Kamiya is known for creating flamboyant action games with razor-sharp mechanics that are synonymous with the Platinum Games name. He worked on the original Resident Evil and directed Resident Evil 2 before serving as director and writer on the first Devil May Cry. Along with producer Atsushi Inaba and Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, Kamiya set up the influential but short-lived Capcom internal studio Clover, where he directed the gorgeous Zelda-like adventure Okami.
When Capcom shuttered Clover, the trio left to found Platinum Games, where Kamiya created the Bayonetta series and The Wonderful 101. He was frustrated to spend years working on Scalebound, an ambitious open-world fantasy action game for Xbox, only for Microsoft to cancel the project. It is unclear what Kamiya’s next project will be, but some speculate on a reunion with Mikami, who left Platinum in 2010 to found Tango Gameworks, where he made the Evil Within games for Bethesda. Mikami left Tango in February this year, and his next project remains a mystery.