Design legend and studio co-founder Hideki Kamiya is to leave PlatinumGames in October, the company has announced.
PlatinumGames, the studio behind such corkers as NieR: Automata, Astral Chain and the Bayonetta games, has announced that co-founder Hideki Kamiya is to leave the firm in October.
The news came directly from PlatinumGames’ Twitter/X account, in a report light on detail beyond a departure date.
“We regret to announce that Hideki Kamiya will be leaving PlatinumGames on October 12, 2023,” the studio’s statement reads. “We are truly grateful for his creative ideas, leadership, and contribution to the growth of PlatinumGames from our start-up to this very day.
“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!”
One thing the statement does make plain, albeit in a roundabout way, is that Kamiya isn’t retiring. This raises even more questions – exactly why he’s leaving, whether he’s starting up a new studio or working independently, and so forth.
It also raises questions about Project G.G., a work-in-progress that Kamiya was originally directing with producer Atsushi Inaba. Seemingly about gigantic kaiju battling above the streets of Tokyo, it was originally announced in March 2020.
“Project G.G. is different,” Kamiya wrote in a post on PlatinumGames’ website, written a couple of years ago. “Unlike any of the games we’ve made so far, it’s going to be a 100% PlatinumGames title. For everything from its setting and characters, to its game design and story, to how it’s promoted – PlatinumGames is in full control.”
In his own leaving announcement on social media, spotted by VGC, Kamiya made no mention of Project G.G., and merely said that his departure “came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs, and was by no means an easy decision to make… keep your eyes peeled.”
