Here’s Why Hideki Kamiya Left Platinum Games & Formed A New Studio To Make The Next Okami

Following the surprise announcement of an Okami sequel from Capcom during The Game Awards 2024, another familiar name associated with the Studio Clover project popped up: Hideki Kamiya.

Known to be the man behind classics like Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 2, and the Viewtiful Joe and Bayonetta series, Hideki Kamiya is also a vocal figure on social media. He was formerly from PlatinumGames for many years before leaving the company in 2023. Why did he left the company where his works like the Bayonetta series and Wonderful 101 was born? Easy: because he felt creatively stifled there.

In a recent Denfaminico interview, he had creative and direction differences with CEO Atsushi Inaba, specifically on where the company is heading: handling live service games and being a contract worker for other bigger titles. He spent three months talking it out with Inaba but couldn’t come to a compromise in the end.

Kamiya felt he wouldn’t be able to continue expressing his creativity at PG and his artistic spirit would die if he remained there. Furthermore, he wasn’t happy with Project G.G. and didn’t want to release a game he couldn’t take responsibility for.

“This is purely my personal opinion, but I thought, “If I continue working here, my artistic spirit will die.” As a result, I thought that I should not release a work that I cannot take responsibility for to the users.

However, I don’t think this is a matter of “which is better or worse.” I can understand the way PlatinumGames is as a company and its logic, and I was in the position of vice president myself, but as an individual named Hideki Kamiya, I was unable to embrace that way of thinking.”

Hence, he left, made good with Capcom, and formed a new studio called CLOVERS together with ex-PlatinumGames colleague Kaneto Koyama.

Here are some details about CLOVERS:

• CLOVERS currently has 20 employees. The company plans to expand its roster to 70.
• Kamiya wants to keep the team small and work with other development studios instead of doing everything themselves. For reference, Okami 2 is also being worked on by M-TWO and Machine Head Works.
• CLOVERS’ focus is on creating games with strong creative visions.
• Kamiya said modern AAA games have become too focused on avoiding commercial failure leading to a lack of creative vision behind it; this is the reason why CLOVERS is formed so that they can do smaller AA to indie-scale projects.
• The four Cs in the logo have a meaning: the three Cs are challenge, creativity, craftsmanship. The fourth C is for each employee to decide for themselves.
• In terms of securing clients, CLOVERS will pitch their own original games to publishers directly in order to receive funding on a project-by-project basis.

For more on Okami 2, head to our news.