PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya is exiting the studio in October

What you need to know

• Hideki Kamiya is the co-founder of PlatinumGames, a studio known for hits like Bayonetta, NieR:Automata, Astral Chain, and more.
•  This morning, the official PlatinumGames Inc. X account posted that Kamiya would be leaving the studio in October.
• Kamiya then posted from his own account shortly thereafter to confirm his departure. 

PlatinumGames is a notable studio within the gaming space having created hits like NieR:Automata, Astral Chain, Bayonetta, and Babylon's Fall for various gaming platforms. As of this morning, it was revealed in PlatinumGames' official account on X (formerly Twitter) that Hideki Kamiya, PlatinumGames' current vice president and one of the co-founders, will be leaving the studio on Oct. 12, 2023. 

Shortly after this post, Kamiya responded to the news via his own X account stating that the choice "came after a lot of consideration based on my own beliefs. and was by no means an easy decision to make."

This is somewhat of a shock given that Kamiya has had a very big part in the studio's success having served as the director for the popular Bayonetta series, and the Wonderful 101 as well as having had a hand in other PlatinumGames projects.

Neither PlatinumGames nor Kamiya himself have explained exactly why the video game veteran is leaving but things seem to be on good terms between the two parties given the wording in PlatinumGames' official announcement. It states, "we are truly grateful for his creative ideas, leadership, and contribution to the growth of PlatinumGames from our start-up to this very day." The announcement goes on to say, "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!"

Windows Central's take

It's hard to say exactly why Kamiya is leaving the gaming studio that he's worked so hard to create and represent. It could simply be that he feels it's time to move onto another stage of his life and if that's the case then I expect the best from whatever gaming endeavors he pursues next. 

After all, he's been part of several big titles before his time at PlatinumGames such as the original Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil Zero, Devil May Cry, Ōkami, and more. That's quite a portfolio to have under one's belt. 

Now, it is interesting that Kamiya is leaving the studio considering he was working on Project G.G., which was supposed to be another superhero game following Viewtiful Joe, and The Wonderful 101. Project G.G. was revealed alongside a teaser trailer back in 2020, but there haven't really been any updates on the game since then, so it's hard to say what stage the game is in at this moment. Depending on how things currently stand, there's a possibility that it might get handed to someone else to finish, but hopefully, it isn't canceled like the Xbox-exclusive Scalebound was.