Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya sheds light on why he left Platinum, the company he co-founded: 'Without that element of trust, I couldn't continue working there'
Hideki Kamiya—director of Bayonetta and Okami, co-founder of PlatinumGames, "unemployed man," and guy who has you blocked on Twitter—is making the rounds again, and this time he's ready to spill the beans. Sort of. In a recent chat with IGN, the legendary developer shed some light on his departure from Platinum in October, telling the world that he just didn't like the way the company was going.
«My work with PlatinumGames was based on a relationship of trust,» said Kamiya, but apparently that trust broke down. «I decided to leave because I felt that the direction the company was heading in was different from my beliefs as a developer. Without that element of trust, I couldn't continue working there.»
That's more than Kamiya has let on in the past. In previous updates on his YouTube channel, he's only said that he left the company «to follow my beliefs as a game creator and to choose the path I think is right.» Outright saying he didn't like the direction Platinum is headed in is quite the escalation, even if he's still polite when he talks about the company.
Kamiya didn't directly describe the direction Platinum is headed in that he doesn't like, but he did say that he doesn't «think of games as products, but rather as works of art. I want to put my artistry into games and deliver games that could only be made by Hideki Kamiya, so that players can enjoy Hideki Kamiya games exactly as they are.» Sounds to me like Platinum was chasing profits in a way Kamiya wasn't on board with, but that is, I stress, my own speculation.
It sounds like Kamiya is still on good terms with the company, anyway. The designer told IGN that he only decided to leave after «many deep discussions» with Platinum CEO Atsushi Inaba, and that
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