Renowned game designer Hideaki Itsuno famously left CAPCOM around a year ago after a thirty-year career at the Japanese company. A couple of months later, we learned that he would become the head of a new Japan-based team at Tencent subsidiary LightSpeed Studios, which would create action games, per his expertise.
Now, as reported by VideoGamesChronicle, LightSpeed has announced new milestones for the studio: the hiring of several key developers from CAPCOM and the opening of a new office in Osaka (Japanese developers will be able to choose whether they'd like to keep working from the Tokyo office or move to the new one, according to the official X account).
As for the new hires, they're all former colleagues of Hideaki Itsuno:
- Writer Toshihiro Nakagawa, also known as Bingo Morihashi, has worked on Devil May Cry 2, 3, 4, 5, and both Dragon's Dogma games
- Daigo Ikeno, an artist whose works include Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, and Dragon's Dogma
- Gouda Cheese/Bengus(both fictional names), another artist who has worked on Street Fighter and Power Stone
Actually, the new LightSpeed Japan Studio has roughly a third of its employees (around 40 in total for now) who came from CAPCOM, and Hideaki Itsuno highlighted the benefits of this choice in a statement shared with VGC:
Although we’re a new studio working on a new game, it’s good to be able to work with people who I trust like Mr. Nakagawa. I have been working with him for decades, since Devil May Cry 2, and he’s one of those core members who understands me very well. Ikeno-san is also participating as an art director this time, and Bengus-san has a very high level of understanding and is a very unique man – he was a legendary designer at Capcom.
It’s all about a sense of trust… we know exactly what each of us want. And it’s not just these three people: I also hired some other people I worked with from before at Capcom, so even though this is a new studio, I’ve gathered those people who I trust to make sure that this is going to be a successful game.
Hideaki Itsuno and his team are working on an original IP. Earlier today, Itsuno-san said on X that the team will work on a prototype that will 'delight players around the world', though they are still seeking creative directors. As such, it would be wise to expect a long wait before we hear concrete details on the game.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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