Hideki Kamiya, known for Bayonetta, has revealed why he left PlatinumGames to co-found a new studio with fellow developer Kento Koyama. Clovers made a surprise announcement on The Game Awards as it’s working on Capcom’s unnamed Okami sequel together with M2 and Machine Head. In an interview with Famitsu, Kamiya opened up about the reasons behind his departure and why they decided to form Clovers.
At first, staff members thought Kamiya was going to resign because of a serious health issue when he had bronchitis and was ‘constantly coughing.’ Turns out that was not the case. “I can’t go into details, but […] I can’t do my best unless I can trust the people there,” Kamiya said, explaining how differences in direction led to his decision to leave PlatinumGames.
“I had love for PlatinumGames, and I’ve been involved since the beginning, so I was planning to bury my bones there.” Despite his emotional connection, Kamiya found himself unable to trust his role, which had grown significantly and even received capital from Tencent.
The creative divergence became clear in his discussions with PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba. “Until the very end, we kept telling each other what we wanted to do, but we couldn’t come to an agreement,” he explained. The split wasn’t born out of conflict but rather irreconcilable visions. “For me, it was something that I couldn’t compromise on, as it was something that affected my life as a creator,” added Kamiya.
Kamiya acknowledged the emotional toll of leaving. “I was proud of carrying the weight of PlatinumGames on my shoulders, so I felt guilty that I would be betraying the staff by quitting,” he admitted.
“If I’d said something like, ‘I’ll just quit then,’ it would have been used as an excuse for Inaba to take back what he said, so I made sure not to say things like that until the very end, when I had made up my mind,” added Kamiya. He also shared how difficult it was to report his decision to longtime friend and mentor Shinji Mikami, despite his supportive response.
Koyama, who has always worked as a freelancer, quickly proposed to Kamiya to start their own company. But Kamiya rejected his offer — at least at first — as he thought it was too ‘absurd’ to recruit someone who was just retiring. In the end, after a night of drinking with Nier‘s Yoko Taro, Kamiya is convinced to co-found a studio with Koyama, embracing a fresh start.
The Devil May Cry creator teased this in 2023 on his YouTube channel. In the video he uploaded after leaving PlatinumGames, Kamiya mentioned he could not work in the industry for a year due to unspecified ‘reasons.’ Now as the head of Clovers, he’s ready to take on the Okami sequel.
The company name is an obvious reference to Clover Studio, the now-defunct Capcom’s internal team behind Okami and Viewtiful Joe where Kamiya used to work. Nevertheless, it also reflects its ethos, combining the symbolism of a four-leaf clover with the concept of ‘C Lovers.’
“We had a lot of ideas for the company name, but none of them felt right. Then Kamiya suggested Clovers,” said Koyama. Kamiya then explained his reasoning, “When we hear the word ‘clovers,’ we think of a four-leaf clover, but if we break down the letters, we can read it as ‘C Lovers.'”
The main three Cs refer to challenge, creativity, and courage, but the last one is left to members’ interpretations. “It was Koyama’s idea to have each employee decide on the fourth one.” Kamiya shared, comparing it to a four-leaf clover and emphasizing its commitment to individuality.
Some of the studio staff chose ‘confidence’ and coffee break’ as their fourth C. For Kamiya though, his C is curiosity. “I think curiosity is at the root of my creativity,” he said. As a newly bloomed studio, Clovers seeks to honor that root while forging its own path by working on the Okami sequel.
“I don’t think we’re required to own [an original] IP,” explained Kamiya. “What I want to turn into Clovers’ strength is to be able to propose, from zero, that we can make a game with these characters, these mechanics, this worldview, and this personality.”
