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Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya has been brought out of career purgatory by Capcom for the Okami sequel
He was forbidden from working on any video games for one year after he left PlatinumGames in October 2023.
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Every year, The Game Awards are an opportunity to celebrate the amazing video games we’ve played the past year, but they are also a chance to look ahead at what is coming next. Of all the games announced at the 2024 event, the most unexpected one was the long-awaited sequel to Okami. Not only is Capcom reviving the beloved PS2 classic, but it is also bringing Bayonetta's creator, Hideki Kamiya, out of career purgatory to do it.
He has a history of making stylish games that push what consoles are capable of at the time. Before he formed PlatinumGames and created the stylish and sexy Bayonetta, Kamiya was the original director of Okami, which blended Japanese mythology with watercolor aesthetics to create one of the most beloved games in history. Both games have become classics over the years, with devoted fans that span generations. Bayonetta has had multiple sequels over the years, so it is about time Okami fans got the love it deserves.
Why has it taken so long for an Okami sequel to be made? For most of the last 20 years, Kamiya has been working on the Bayonetta series. However, in October 2023, Kamiya confirmed that he was leaving PlatinumGames for undisclosed reasons.
What makes this timing particularly important for the Okami sequel is that Kamiya said at the time that he wasn’t allowed to work in the gaming industry for one year “for reasons” that probably have to do with a non-competition clause in his contract. That makes the December 2024 announcement of an Okami sequel from Hideki Kamiya’s newly formed CLOVERS Inc. studio almost the earliest that this game could have possibly been announced.
However, this realization also comes with a bit of bad news – Okami 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) must be incredibly early in its production cycle. That means we’ve probably got several years before it comes out. Still, we’ve waited 19 years – what’s a few more?
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