The head of Japanese studio PlatinumGames has stepped down, according to a report by GamesBusiness.jp.
CEO Tatsuya Minami resigned at the end of March and has been replaced by Kenichi Sato. As part of the reshuffle, Seigo Tabira and Atsushi Inaba join the management as company directors.
Minami began his career back in 1987 with Capcom, and worked on some of the company's most beloved titles, including Resident Evil, Mega Man Legends and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He left to establish ODDS in 2006, which subsequently merged with SEEDS to create PlatinumGames, which turns 10 this year.
PlatinumGames' most recent project is Star Fox Zero, which launches on the Wii U this week. The company previously produced Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 for the console.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments (32)
I hope he is alright and it's not due to some health or personal issue. I have nothing but praise for his work in Capcom and Platinum.
So what has 90% of Nintendo's development staff done the last 6-18 months, since even Star Fox Zero is not an internal Nintendo project? All off them working on NX? And if so, NX should turn out good, with a head start on software, right?
Seems a shame as I really like Platinum, however maybe he's decided 10 years is enough. I hope the studio continues going strong.
@BornInNorway81 I hope so.
What! Why?
So what do you think @sinalefa too many Avatar and Transformer type games, not enough Scalebound?
I'm guessing Kamiya is the real driving force anyway, right?
Good luck too the man for the future.
Best of luck with his new endeavors. Can't wait to get a hold of Star Fox Zero tomorrow.
I heart Platinum, so I hope this does not signal a change in course for it.
Well now platinum is screwed if their new CEO is the descendant of Konami.
Could just be as straightforward as profits. We all know how badly the games sell, despite how amazing they are.
Wish him the best of luck, wherever he may go.
@rjejr I know this is irrelevant, but you changed your icon again. 1st I saw Piper, then that Christmas thing, then Baloo, and now the Queen. What you'll pick next, I'll never know. Not that I'm complaining. I always look forward to seeing the next avatar.
Due to poor Star Fox Zero sales probably.
@yannah21 The Queen turned 90 today, and since this is a British based website but I'm a 'Merican thought I'd honour her, she's been the Queen my entire life and I'm 50. The world is going to be weird someday when she isn't THE Queen anymore. I haven't come across any Nostradmus prophecies about her passing, but she's deserving. Long live the Queen!!
Not sure what tomorrow will bring, possibly back to Mr. Met that I used for a bit last summer. Who knows?
@rjejr An excellent way to honor her majesty.
@Shiryu He's stepped down for a Secret promotion in the NX dept at NINTENDO. .
@Yasume is it selling badly? I couldn't find anything with a Google search about poor sales but I did find this, which seemed quite positive...
http://nintendoenthusiast.com/news/amazon-star-fox-zero-currently-the-top-selling-game/
Capcom used to be THE conpany that made all the original Zany games like Resident Evil ( Before it became Call of Duty), Okami and Vietiful Joe. Now Capcom are literally a ghost of their former selves and Platinum are the ones to make consistently great quality games. Seriously, I dont really know of any game developped by Platinum that I haven't enjoyed. I wish Minami-san all the best for the future.
@cfgk24 Who knows...
@Kid_Sickarus Bad enough this sort of attitude like Yasume is showing has spread even to here. On other sites, people are trying to claim he stepped down because of the reviews, even though he stepped down last month.They even quote the article, with the mention of March in the very first paragraph.
People don't read anymore. They make assumptions.
@Yasume your comment is invalidated by the fact that Starfox isn't even out and the fact that he stepped down more than a month ago. Oh...Starfox is also at the top of the new games list on Amazon too. So it won't be doing too badly when it does come out.
@rjejr Korra might have been a load of crap but Transformers was a pretty aolid game.
@Indielink I wasn't really referring to the games quality, just that they were licensed games rather than original IP, so making them probably wouldn't be the same type of work.
@Indielink Yeah....I was wondering the same thing too.
And uh....delete your extra posts man....its jarring.
@rjejr
I dont think it was that or Kamiya would be the first one leaving. The Activision games are a good thing as they provide them with steady income to fund the Bayos and the Scalebounds which rarely sell.
Transformers was good but it is hard to shake off the "poor man's Bayonetta" while playing it. Havent even beaten it yet and Turtles comes next month.
Man, I feel bad for this man. If there's any silver lining it's that he's been there for a lot of great games Platinum made. Hope his future is bright still.
@sinalefa Aww I forgot about turtles! And of course my one and ps4 are in storage. sigh. I've been enjoying Pstar's licensed games personally. I loved the combat in Korra as I thought it was a decent approximation of the show.
My god, Star Fox Zero was so bad they fired him.
Hmm, could have to do with Star fox Zero. And I don't say that because sales (its just out yet), but maybe a relationship gone sour during the development of the game. Miyamoto's akward ideas often clash with other developers, and there where rumors about development-problems before.
@Yasume You can't say that it's because of poor sales(it only released today). You could have perhaps said it was due to the games mixed reviews and reception but even that would be wrong because he stepped down last month.
It is a little strange though with the timing of the announcement. Maybe he wasn't happy with the amount of freedom they were given under Nintendo with the Star Fox game and once it was completed he stepped down as a statement. Or maybe he just wants to do other things.
@Socar Oh hell, did I have a bunch of extra posts there? My bad, must be mobile screwing with me.
@BornInNorway81 :
Wii U is as good as dead for Nintendo. Many games have moved to NX, so they don't release years to late next time.
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