Even more game directors have seemingly left PlatinumGames, causing fans to wonder about the studio’s future. The past few years have been a mixed bag for PlatinumGames, with many of the developer’s key staff members leaving to pursue other ventures. The most prominent of these departures was Bayonetta creator and PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya, who parted ways with PlatinumGames in 2023 after almost 20 years. He would later explain that he felt PlatinumGames was going in a direction different from his own viewpoint as a developer.

Ninja Gaiden 4 Wears its Platinum Games DNA on its Sleeve
Ninja Gaiden 4 Wears its Platinum Games DNA on its Sleeve

Fellow action game developer Platinum Games has joined with Team Ninja to make Ninja Gaiden 4, and its influence is immediately felt.

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More evidence of these prominent PlatinumGames directors leaving the company recently surfaced in the form of a video shared by Hideki Kamiya on his YouTube channel. As noted by VGC, this video included a “bonus” segment showing what Kamiya describes as a “former PlatinumGames directors’ drinking party,” consisting of himself, Abebe Tinari, Takahisa Taura, Kenji Saito, Masaki Yamanaka, and Bayonetta 3 director Yusuke Miyata. So far, PlatinumGames has yet to comment on this development officially, and it isn't clear where these now-former staff members are going now.

PlatinumGames Seemingly Loses Five Major Game Directors

In 2024, Hideo Kamiya formed Clovers Inc., a version of the old Clover Studios that is currently working on the Okami sequel. According to Kamiya, many former PlatinumGames alumni have joined him at Clovers, including co-founder and former Project GG designer Kento Koyama. A recent staff photo also features Bayonetta and Astral Chain cinematic director Kunihiko Tsuda, Metal Gear Rising lead animator Hirokazu Takeuchi, and Bayonetta series animator Rei Yamamoto, though this isn’t a concrete confirmation that they are indeed working at Clovers.

Meanwhile, PlatinumGames is joining forces with Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja on Ninja Gaiden 4, which is set to release this fall. On the other hand, the status of Hideki Kamiya’s Project GG has been called into question ever since he left the company, with its recent removal from PlatinumGames’ website and lack of updates beforehand leaving some gamers to wonder if it has been canceled. Additionally, a social media update from Takahisa Taura recently hinted that he might be forming his own studio based in Tokyo.