Hideki Kamiya has mentioned his original plans for a much bigger Bayonetta saga – and concedes that the series will likely continue without him.
In a further sign that the famously unfiltered designer Hideki Kamiya may have left PlatinumGames under a cloud, he’s once again taken to YouTube – this time to talk about his much-loved Bayonetta series.
To date, we’ve seen three mainline entries in the Devil May Cry-esque Bayonetta series, which began in 2009, as well as this year’s somewhat unexpected spin-off, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon.
In his latest video, Kamiya has revealed that his plans for Bayonetta – a series he’s been heavily involved with from the beginning – were once much bigger, perhaps stretching to as many as nine games. Whatever his ideas were for that ‘saga’, however, are unlikely to ever see the light of day now that he’s left the studio he once co-founded.
“I’ve talked about this in various interviews, that the Bayonetta series would consist of a total of nine episodes and that I wanted to grow the franchise as the Bayonetta saga,” Kamiya said (as reported by IGN). “But it seems like I may have to take the full saga to the grave with me. It’s a shame. It’s not like I own the Bayonetta IP, but I suppose those who do will probably keep it going.”
It was announced in September that Kamiya was to leave PlatinumGames, and while no reason was given at the time, it seemed that some kind of disagreement occurred behind the scenes. In an October YouTube video – the first of its kind from Kamiya – the designer was filmed walking away from what appeared to be PlatinumGames’ offices. Sitting on a bench and clutching a box of his belongings, Kamiya described himself as “unemployed,” adding, “I left the company because I wanted to follow my beliefs as a game creator.”
It also seems that Kamiya was asked to sign some kind of non-complete contract on his departure, since he stated that he couldn’t work in the games industry for a year “due to reasons.”
Whatever happened, Kamiya has made plain that he isn’t retiring; although he necessarily can’t say what he’ll be up to next, he was filmed wearing an orange hat bearing the logo of Japanese studio Hamster Corporation. Whether that’s a clue as to where he’ll go to next or not, we can’t say.
One thing appears to be sure, though: Kamiya’s involvement in the Bayonetta series is over.
