Capcom announced that Hideaki Itsuno, renowned director behind the Devil May Cry series and Dragon’s Dogma, will be departing the company after three decades of dedication, a milestone in his storied career spanning iconic titles.
Dragon’s Dogma: Shadowlands, the highly anticipated sequel to the original 2012 release, emerged onto the gaming scene in March of this year. However, just five months later, Itsuno has revealed that by the end of this month, he will no longer be part of Capcom. Here is the rewritten text: By the end of August 2024, I will be concluding my 30-year-and-5-month tenure at Capcom. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to contribute to the evolution of various video game franchises and their beloved characters over an extended period of time. I hope to proceed in helping Capcom’s video games and characters.
For fans of Itsuno’s work at Capcom, this news will likely be met with disappointment. However, there is a silver lining – the developer revealed that he will start working on a new game set in a new environment from September onwards. My ultimate goal is to craft captivating, visually stunning video games that surpass my previous achievements in terms of memorability. As the wait begins for my forthcoming creative endeavors, I’ll be keeping you posted on any developments! With Itsumo’s confirmation of a September start, we can expect a bit of a lag before seeing the fruits of his labor – no need to get overly enthusiastic just yet, though.
While Itsuno started his career at Capcom directing and co-directing various video games, including Rival Schools: United by Fate and Power Stone, he later became the director of Devil May Cry 2, going on to helm every subsequent main entry in the series except for the reboot game. In reality, he also helmed the direction of Dragon’s Dogma, repeating the feat with this year’s sequel, a game so exceptional that our own Alex deemed it one of the best video games of all time in his review, as long as you have the right setup, that is.
