In a shocker, the talented game director Hideaki Itsuno of Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma has officially left Capcom after spending 30 years with the gaming giant. Itsuno announced the news on X (formerly Twitter) and fans of the developer who were waiting for his/her next creation were saddened by the news.
End of an Era
In the last three decades, Itsuno played a vital role in the achievement of many large-scale projects, most of which are known worldwide, such as Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma series. It is important to note that this news arrived shortly after the revelation that Itsuno had been secretly developing Dragon’s Dogma 2, the sequel that has generating a lot of buzz across the gaming community. His exit has brought a lot of doubts regarding the future of the game but the Capcom team has ensured the fans that there will be more games being developed by new team.
Itsuno’s Journey: From Capcom Rookie to Action Game Master
Itsuno went through a tremendous personal journey throughout his career at Capcom. He was hired by the company during the early 1990s, and over the years, he grew in rank and became one of the powerful directors at Capcom. His ‘coming of age’ as a director began with Devil May Cry 2 and by virtue of his innovative positive and quite often bold direction he garnered himself a reputation as one of the masters of the action-adventure genre.
He was also the mastermind behind the creation of Dragon’s Dogma, an open world action RPG that combined the west and eastern influences and was well received by critics and the public. Apart from those legendary franchises, Itsuno also directed other games such as Street Fighter Alpha and Power Stone that prove how versatile Itsuno is and how much of a genius he is when it comes to creating video games.
Notable Games Directed by Hideaki Itsuno
- Devil May Cry 2, Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 4, and Devil May Cry 5
- Dragon’s Dogma
- Street Fighter Alpha 3
- Power Stone and Power Stone 2
His departure leaves behind a legacy of genre-defining titles that have influenced a generation of game developers and players alike.
Future of Hideaki Itsuno
Despite all this, people are still guessing about what is in store for Hideaki Itsuno in the near future. Audiences have turned to the social media platforms to show appreciation of his input and looking forward to what he will do next. A lot of people await him to come up with his own studio or work in projects that will enable him to design again.
On Twitter, one fan wrote, “This man gave us Devil May Cry 3 to 5 and the Dragons Dogma series. I’m really curious who will take over the DMC series. You would think they will go forward with it since its successful.” Another commented, “Damn, I wonder if upper management forcing Dragons Dogma 2 to launch unfinished pissed him off, Its hard to imagine Devil May Cry without him.”
Indeed, Hideaki Itsuno’s departure from Capcom puts an end to a major chapter of the third generation of the video game industry. He has put his mark in the action game genre and his work on DMC and Dragon’s Dogma is highly appreciated both by gamers and fellow game designers. As the gaming world waits to see what his next steps will be, one thing is certain: Hideaki Itsuno’s legacy is far from over.
However, with Itsuno gone, Capcom will have to further develop what Itsuno had set The Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still under development. The future of gaming is always very uncertain, but Itsuno has surely left his mark in the gaming industry for the coming years.