Renowned action game developer PlatinumGames has just announced that its co-founder, Hideki Kamiya, will leave the company on October 12.
Kamiya historically has created and directed what many would consider some of the best single-player games of all time, including the Devil May Cry and Bayonetta series, as well as the original Resident Evil 2 on PS1 and, more recently, innovative games like The Wonderful 101.
PlatinumGames confirmed the news via a statement on Twitter, expressing its thanks to Kamiya and wishing him well in his future endeavors. Kamiya co-founded the company back in 2007 with several other notable creators, including Shinji Mikami, the father of Resident Evil.
Kamiya has always been a mildly controversial and somewhat divisive figure in the industry. While he helped spearhead the character action subgenre that gave rise to incredible games like Astral Chain, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Vanquish, and Nier Automata, a lot of folks may only know Kamiya for his tendency to block swathes of people on Twitter, and being very open about it.
And while the exact reason for Kamiya’s departure hasn’t been confirmed, he himself took to Twitter after the announcement to state: “This came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs. and was by no means an easy decision to make.”
Platinum’s recent output hasn’t exactly held up to its lofty legacy. Fans largely regarded Bayonetta 3 to be a step down from prior entries, while the ill-fated live service title Babylon’s Fall failed to find an audience right out of the gate.
That isn’t to say the company is on its last legs, though. Bayonetta Origins, a puzzle-platformer prequel, was well-received by fans. It also provided support for Final Fantasy 16, notably helping to develop the Titan Lost boss fight, which is easily among the best in the game.
All that is to say that PlatinumGames is likely to be fine without Kamiya leading the charge, but his departure is nonetheless bittersweet for longtime fans of both him and PlatinumGames as a whole.
For more excellent action-heavy titles, be sure to have a browse of our best PS5 games and best Nintendo Switch games list for top recommendations released this year and beyond.