Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya announced last month that he would be departing PlatinumGames this month, and the day of departure for the studio’s former co-founder has arrived. Kamiya has revealed his short-term future plans but won’t be working in the game industry for the next little while, as reported by Gematsu.
Hideki Kamiya revealed in a YouTube video he’s shifting his focus to content creation with the announcement of his YouTube channel known as the “Hideki Kamiya Channel.” In the channel’s first video, Hideki Kamiya can be seen walking out of the Platinum offices in short and wearing an orange bandanna, holding a box of his desk belongings/toys. The former Platinum game director reveals he feels “very refreshed” and is not retiring from game development.
However, Kamiya adds that he won’t be working in the game industry for a year; this is likely due to a non-compete clause in his employee contract as part of his severance package. As for the reason behind his departure, Kamiya made the decision three months ago and was vague on the specifics but said he “wanted to follow my beliefs as a game creator” while alluding that his wants as a game director did not align with PlatinumGames’ future.
“How should I put it… hmm… How can I put it… Umm… THERE’S NO WAY I CAN PUT IT. You guys understand, right? But… I’d say I left the company because I wanted to follow my beliefs as a game creator. And to choose the path I think is right and move on. Yeah, so I’m not going to retire yet. I want to keep creating games,” Kamiya said in the video.
As for Kamiya’s YouTube channel, the plan is to upload “completely education-free” videos that don’t have anything to do with the game industry. It seems as if Kamiya is ready to start his break in a big way, with more time to spend watching TV and movies while taking up cooking again. Until then, Kamiya is taking a long approach to figure out what to do next, whatever that next opportunity is, but adds, ” I will consider ANY [job] OFFER ABOVE 100 million yen ($670,650) a year” as he later leaves for the unemployment center in a Lamborghini.
Before founding PlatinGames in 2006 alongside Shinji Mikami, Hideki Kamiya worked at Capcom where he developed titles like Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 2, Viewtiful Joe and Okami. After leaving the Resident Evil publisher, Kamiya went on to create four Bayonetta games, Wonderful 101 (alongside the game’s remaster), and much more.
