Yusuke Hashimoto, who directed Bayonetta 2 and Star Fox Zero, has announced that he has left PlatinumGames after nearly 13 years with the studio. Hashimoto has been with Platinum since its establishment in 2007, when he joined its founders Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kemiya after the closure of Capcom’s Clover Studio.
Hashimoto posted the announcement to Twitter February 14. He said January 31 had been his last day with PlatinumGames, and thanked everyone who has worked with him during his time with the studio.
“The memories I made during my 13 years at Platinum, working with dozens of talented individuals on Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, and Star Fox Zero, are priceless to me,” he said. “I hope to take the experiences I gained at Platinum and use them on whatever I work on in the future. Thank you again.”
PlatinumGames is currently developing Bayonetta 3, and it’s unclear what role if any Hashimoto had in its design and production. During this week’s Nintendo Direct, the company confirmed that it was still in development, but as GamesIndustry.biz reports, it offered no new details about the game.
The original Bayonetta arrived on PC in 2017, and publisher Sega was pleased with its initial sales performance on Steam. Now, SteamDB estimates between 500,000 and 1,000,000 players have the game in their libraries.
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Hashimoto hasn’t said what his post-PlatinumGames plans are. He worked as a producer on the original Bayonetta and as director on Bayonetta 2 and Star Fox Zero. Before moving to Platinum, Hashimoto worked at Capcom on games including the Devil May Cry and Resident Evil series.