Astral Chain creator and Nier Automata designer leaves PlatinumGames to start his own studio

After several months of speculation, Takahisa Taura, director of the cult Astral Chain and designer of the equally famous Nier Automata, has finally confirmed his departure from PlatinumGames. In the latest issue of the Japanese magazine Famitsu, Taura announced the foundation of his own company called Eel Game Studio, adding that he could not share more details at this time.

Here's What We Know

Rumours of Taura's departure have been circulating since last year, when he removed the mention of PlatinumGames from his Twitter profile and changed his job title on his public Facebook page. In recent months, the future of other key PlatinumGames employees has also been actively discussed, especially after the studio's creative director Hideki Kamiya announced the creation of a new studio backed by Capcom, which includes former Platinum developers.

In a recent video posted by Kamiya, the Bayonetta designer hinted that other key figures had left Platinum, including Bayonetta 3 director Yusuke Miyata, Metal Gear Rising director Kenji Saito, and Anarchy Reigns and Resident Evil character designer Masaki Yamanaka.

"Games are created by people," Kamiya said in the video, "Wherever they go from here, they will create things that only they can do... please wait for their work.

At the time, a representative of PlatinumGames refused to comment on the possible departure of these creators from the studio. Platinum has remained relatively quiet since the announcement of Kamiya's departure in October 2023, declining interviews and rarely mentioning its future plans. It was only in January that the studio broke the silence by releasing a statement about its future, followed by the announcement of a new Ninja Gaiden game that Platinum is developing in collaboration with Koei Tecmo and Microsoft. Now, the confirmation of Taura's departure only reinforces the sense of significant changes taking place at PlatinumGames and arouses even more interest in the future projects of both the studio and the newly created Eel Game Studio.

Source: @Genki_JPN