With his departure from PlatinumGames, Takahisa Taura joins the ever-growing list of people leaving the company…
The exodus of highly talented developers from PlatinumGames continues, with the director of Astral Chain and designer of NieR: Automata confirmed to have left the studio. However, he did not do so to follow in the footsteps of Hideki Kamiya and join the Clovers team, but to form Eel Game Studios with some of the other founding members.
In an interview with Famitsu, Taura confirmed his departure from PlatinumGames and the formation of the new studio, but did not reveal who else was among the founding members of Eel Game Studio. He also confirmed that he will continue to work with Yoko Taro, Yosuke Saito, and Keiichi Okabe on an unannounced project despite the start of the new adventure. All four were key members of NieR: Automata, so this unannounced project could potentially be related to the NieR franchise, but it’s too early to tell.
Kamiya, the former creative director of PlatinumGames and one of the studio’s founders, left Platinum back in 2023, and during his hiatus he first launched a YouTube channel and then worked on founding another new studio, Clovers. This is obviously a reference to Kamiya’s former studio, as Clover was associated with Capcom, which had created a lasting legacy with Okami. (A sequel has already been announced.) Remember what Kamiya told VGC last year:
“If I was happy at Platinum, I wouldn’t have left. If there’s one thing I’m worried about, it’s the fact that I was VP and Chief Game Designer of PlatinumGames. So if I leave, I worry about the people there, the staff there. Of course, if they’re motivated and happy at Platinum, I think that’s the right way for them. But if there are others whose mindset is more aligned with what we’re building here at Clovers, we want to welcome them and give them a path as well. I see that as a responsibility I have to those people after I leave Platinum,” Kamiya said.
However, this comment raises the question of what the actual situation within PlatinumGames might be…
Leave a Reply