PlatinumGames founder and former CEO Hideki Kamiya has revealed that at least four more high-profile execs have quit the company, including the directors of hits like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Bayonetta 3.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel (via VGC), Kamiya includes a photograph of himself and five other individuals, labeling the picture as a "former PlatinumGames directors' drinking party".
As well as Kamiya himself, the photo also includes Yusuke Miyata, Kenji Saito, and Takahisa Taura, the directors of Bayonetta 3, Metal Gear Rising, and Astral Chain, respectively. You can also spot Bayonetta Origins' Abebe Tinari, as well as character artist Masaki Yamanaka.
As VGC points out, Tinari already revealed his departure from PlatinumGames last month, but to the best of my knowledge, the departure of the other four from PlatinumGames is new.
Kamiya doesn't state in the video whether any of the folks in the photo have joined his new studio Clovers or whether they'll be moving on to other ventures within the gaming industry, although at the very least, it seems plausible that Astral Chain's Taura is starting his own studio.
In any case, these departures follow some rather odd changes to PlatinumGames' website. A number of games, including titles like Transformers: Devastation, the now-delisted World of Demons, and the previously-teased Project G.G., have all been removed from the site's listings.
It seems the studio has removed games that are no longer available, which presumably also means Project G.G. has been canceled, although the fact that they're completely gone from PlatinumGames' list feels a touch like revisionist history.
As for Kamiya himself, after leaving PlatinumGames back in 2023, he's currently working on a sequel to Okami with his new studio Clovers, which also has several ex-PlatinumGames staffers working for it.
The sequel is likely some way away from being released, but it's nice to know that Kamiya is getting to work on a project in which he'd previously expressed interest. Maybe now we can hope for that new Viewtiful Joe game.
PlatinumGames, meanwhile, is currently working on Ninja Gaiden 4 alongside Team Ninja. The game was revealed during last month's Xbox Developer Direct and is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S later this year.
