Hideki Kamiya on January 31 2020, teasing the announcement of The Wonderful 101: Remastered
(Original Twitter post)
Hideki Kamiya (神谷 英樹, born December 19, 1970) is a Japanese video game developer known for directing Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Ōkami, Bayonetta, and The Wonderful 101. He was also one of the founders of PlatinumGames.
A fan of video games from a young age, Kamiya applied to work at various game developers after graduating from college, joining Capcom as a game designer in 1994. His early works include planner of the original Resident Evil in 1996 and director of Resident Evil 2 in 1998. Kamiya was also involved in directing early concepts of Resident Evil 4, but his version of the game was ultimately spun off into Devil May Cry in 2001, which would go on to be considered one of the greatest action video games of all time.
Kamiya's directorial work under Capcom continued as the director of Viewtiful Joe in 2003. Kamiya was then made a part of Clover Studio, a subsidiary of Capcom created to support the Viewtiful Joe series. Under Clover Studio, Kamiya was involved in the writing of Viewtiful Joe's sequels, and directed Ōkami in 2006. Clover Studio was ultimately shut down following the poor sales of its games, resulting in several of its members, including Kamiya, choosing to leave Capcom.
After leaving Capcom, Kamiya joined with several other former Capcom employees, primarily Atsushi Inaba, Shinji Mikami, and Tatsuya Minami, to found PlatinumGames. Kamiya directed one of the company's first titles, Bayonetta, in 2009, a spiritual successor to Devil May Cry that became one of their most successful games. Kamiya directed The Wonderful 101 in 2013, and from 2013 to 2017 he directed the development of Scalebound, until the game was ultimately cancelled in 2017. Kamiya's other works with Platinum include the writing of Bayonetta's sequels, and supervising various other projects. In 2020, Platinum announced a new game with the working title Project G.G., which was to be first game directed by Kamiya since The Wonderful 101.
On October 12 2023, Hideki Kamiya left PlatinumGames over creative differences with Atsushi Inaba, leaving the status of Project G.G. unknown.
During The Game Awards 2024, it was announced that Hideki Kamiya is now the Studio Head of a newly formed independent game development studio, Clovers Inc., whose first project is the development of a long-awaited sequel to Ōkami for Capcom, which will be directed by Kamiya.
Kamiya is also known for his strong presence on social media, mainly Twitter, where he is infamous for blocking anyone who messages him in any language other than Japanese, to the point that getting "BLOCKED" has become a long-running inside joke with his fans.
Following his departure from PlatinumGames, Kamiya also started a YouTube channel to upload various videos, primarily fan Q&As.
Works[]
- Video Games
| Year | Game | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Resident Evil | System Planner |
| Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura: Incredible Toons | Planner | |
| 1998 | Resident Evil 2 | Director |
| 2001 | Devil May Cry | Director, story |
| 2002 | Resident Evil Zero | Original game design |
| 2003 | Viewtiful Joe | Director |
| 2004 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations | Japanese voice of Godot |
| Viewtiful Joe 2 | Story | |
| 2005 | Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! | |
| 2006 | Ōkami | Director, story |
| 2009 | Bayonetta | |
| 2013 | The Wonderful 101 | |
| 2014 | Bayonetta 2 | Supervisor, story |
| 2019 | Astral Chain | Supervisor |
| 2021 | World of Demons | |
| 2022 | Sol Cresta | Creative director, story |
| Bayonetta 3 | Supervising director, scenario | |
| 2023 | Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon | Supervising director, original story, chief scenario writer |
| TBA | Project G.G. | Former Director |
| TBA | Untitled Ōkami Sequel | Director |
- Cancelled Games
| Title | Role |
|---|---|
| Scalebound | Director, story |
Gallery[]
Hideki Kamiya uses the same social media avatar on all websites, but he often alters its appearance to promote projects he's involved with:
Trivia[]
- Hideki Kamiya may have some connection to Wonder-Director, the Mild-Mannered Game Designer.
- In addition to developing a sequel to Ōkami following his return to Capcom, Kamiya has also expressed interest in developing Viewtiful Joe 3.
- Some of Kamiya's favorite video games include The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Gradius, the original Castlevania, Space Harrier, Cybernator, Punch-Out, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Snatcher, Sorcerian, and Star Cruiser.
- Immorta's Galactic Federation Police Sector number, S451219, is actually a reference to Kamiya's birthday, on 12/19/1970. The 45 is derived from 1970 as that was the 45th year of the Shōwa era of Japan.
- He hates raisins.