Few people in the game industry know what it means to be stylish quite like Hideki Kamiya. From his early days at Capcom to his recent career at Platinum, he's been involved in some of the most unique and memorable action games of their respective console generations.
Kamiya began his career as a planner for Resident Evil in 1996, where he worked alongside director Shinji Mikami to codify the survival horror genre. For the sequel, Kamiya was promoted to producer, and he supposedly had a few creative disagreements with Mikami. The two would later work together on Onimusha and Devil May Cry.
Mikami and Kamiya founded Clover Studio in 2004, a subsidiary of Capcom where they would collaborate on Viewtiful Joe, Viewtiful Joe 2 and Okami. Clover was dissolved by Capcom in 2007, and then former Clover staff including Mikami and Kamiya went on to create their own company.
PlatinumGames was born in 2007 and immediately got the gaming world talking with Mad World, the edgiest game on Wii at the time. Then in 2009 came Kamiya's magnum opus - Bayonetta. A spiritual successor to Devil May Cry but starring his ideal waifu - an 8' tall exhibitionist dominatrix with glasses and a British accent.
Mikami left Platinum in 2010 to form his own studio, Tango Gameworks, with Bethesda, but Kamiya stayed to work on some of their best known games, like Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101 and Astral Chain. The last game Kamiya worked on for Platinum was Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, a spin-off following Bayonetta 3. While Bayonetta 3 didn't exactly go over well with everyone, Kamiya at least wasn't involved in the absolute shiter that preceded it.
Platinum recently announced on Twitter that Kamiya will be departing from the studio effective October 12. Kamiya is known for taking no shit on Twitter, but to the few people he hasn't blocked yet he followed up to say while it was not an easy decision to make it was ultimately for the best and, he'll still be creating games in his own unique way.
We don't know yet if he'll be joining another company or creating his own, but whatever it is it's bound to be as stylish as his previous work. Which of Kamiya's games have you enjoyed? What do you think he'll do next? Let us know below!
