Hideki Kamiya To Depart Platinum Games

Last night, at about three in the morning, prolific game creator Hideki Kamiya announced his departure from Platinum, the game studio he made famous. It’s an oddball time to announce such a thing but it’s in tune for the eccentric man, most known as the creator of Bayonetta.

“This came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs, and was by no means an easy decision to make,” Kamiya posted on Twitter. “However, I feel this outcome is for the best. I will continue to create in my Hideki Kamiya way. I hope you’ll keep your eyes peeled.”

“We are truly grateful for his creative ideas, leadership, and contribution to the growth of Platinum Games from our start-up to this very day,” Platinum said in response. “We believe that he will continue to succeed in his future endeavors as a game creator. We are looking forward to seeing the game industry grow into a better place with him in it. We wish him all the best for the future!”

Kamiya has a resume to die for, having received his start on the original Resident Evil for Capcom, working on Viewtiful Joe and Okami, and directing the first Devil May Cry game before moving to Platinum and introducing Bayonetta, along with Switch exclusives The Wonderful 101 and Astral Chain. Kamiya specialized in heavily stylized action games with frenetic, epic-sized battle sequences, something nearly his entire resume has in common.

Now the question on everyone’s mind is….if he’s leaving, what happens to our favorite Umbra Witch? At the moment, there’s no reason to believe we’ve seen the last of Bayonetta: the property is owned by Platinum, not Kamiya. Also, Kamiya did not personally direct Bayonetta 2 and 3; there’s no reason not to believe they can do this without him. But it may be a while until we hear from her again, given that TWO games in the series were just released within a year’s time.