In a surprise announcement on X (Twitter), games industry legend Hideaki Itsuno is leaving Capcom at the end of August 2024 after 30 years at the Japanese games company.

Starting in September 2024, Itsuno will be developing games “in a new environment”. However, he has not revealed where he will be working at after leaving Capcom.

Itsuno first joined Capcom in 1994, and his first works as a director were Star Gladiator and Rival Schools United By Fate.

He would go on to direct Power Stone, Power Stone 2, Project Justice, Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, One Piece Mansion, Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, Auto Modellista, Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Devil May Cry 4, Dragon’s Dogma, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, Devil May Cry 5, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition, and Dragon’s Dogma II.

He is now best known for being the series director for both the Devil May Cry (starting with Devil May Cry 2) and Dragon’s Dogma franchises.

His final game at Capcom was Dragon’s Dogma 2, which was released in March 2024 for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (check out our full review here).

Check out his full statement below)

I have an announcement for all my followers.

At the end of August 2024, I will be leaving Capcom after 30 years and five months. Thank you for your long-term support of the games and characters I have been responsible for. I hope you will continue to support Capcom’s games and characters. From September, I will start developing a new game in a new environment. I hope to create fun, beautiful games that are as memorable as, or even more memorable than, the ones I have created so far.

Please stay tuned for my next creation!

pic.twitter.com/x31uQmGU9v

— Hideaki Itsuno (@tomqe) August 31, 2024

All the best in your future endeavours, Itsuno-san. We hope you continue to make more great games in the future, ganbatte!