Hideaki Itsuno, one in all Capcom’s most skilled and profitable designers, has left the corporate after working there for over 30 years. Itsuno was a key steward of the Satan Might Cry collection and the creator and director of Dragon’s Dogma and its current sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2; his departure leaves a query mark hanging over the way forward for each collection, however significantly Dragon’s Dogma, a novel tackle motion role-playing video games guided by Itsuno’s distinctive imaginative and prescient for the style.
“I’ve an announcement for all my followers,” Itsuno posted to X. “On the finish of August 2024, I can be leaving Capcom after 30 years and 5 months. Thanks in your long-term help of the video games and characters I’ve been accountable for. I hope you’ll proceed to help Capcom’s video games and characters.
“From September, I’ll begin creating a brand new recreation in a brand new setting. I hope to create enjoyable, stunning video games which might be as memorable as, or much more memorable than, those I’ve created to this point. Please keep tuned for my subsequent creation!”
Like many at Capcom, Itsuno was a combating recreation fanatic who minimize his enamel on the style earlier than transferring on to totally different kinds of recreation; amongst different combating video games, he led growth on cult favorites Rival Colleges and Energy Stone. Within the early 2000s he was parachuted in to save lots of growth of the struggling motion recreation sequel Satan Might Cry 2, with blended outcomes. However he would find yourself staying on to direct Satan Might Cry 3, 4, and 5, all properly obtained by followers, in addition to oversee the event of Ninja Principle’s DmC: Satan Might Cry. Itsuno basically took the collection, which had been created by Capcom legend Shinji Mikami, and made it his personal.
In between the fourth and fifth Satan Might Cry video games, Itsuno was given the prospect to appreciate a long-held dream undertaking, which grew to become the primary Dragon’s Dogma. Combining the liberty of Western RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion with Capcom-style motion fight and a novel system of AI companions referred to as pawns, Dragon’s Dogma initially met with confusion on its launch in 2012, however its status and following grew such {that a} sequel was greenlit. Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched in 2024 to vital acclaim — and nonetheless extra confusion from new gamers shocked by its hands-off design ethos.
As one in all Capcom’s most distinctive creators of the trendy period, Itsuno’s subsequent transfer can be watched with nice curiosity.
