Platinum Games’ president Tatsuya Minami retired as head of the Bayonetta developer at the end of March, according to a report published by Japanese site Games Business. Minami has been replaced by Kenichi Sata, who previously held the position of executive director.
The studio is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary and news of Minami’s departure comes on the day of Star Fox Zero’s Japanese release. The game, a collaboration with Nintendo EDP, launches worldwide tomorrow and on Saturday in Australia.
Star Fox Zero has received mixed reviews but it’s worth noting that Minami stepped down before any reviews had been published.
Like most of Platinum Games’ key team, Minami began his career at Capcom before leaving the firm in 2006 to establish ODD Incorporated. ODD later merged with Seeds, Inc., which was established by former Clover team members. The two companies joined to form Platinum Games.
Platinum’s first game, Mad World, was released in 2009 and more than 10 games have followed to date including Bayonetta, Vanquish, and The Wonderful 101. Aside from original titles, the developer has also made a number of licensed games such as The Legend of Korra and Transformers: Devastation. Platinum has said making such games is necessary for the security they provide as they allow the studio to then take risks with new IPs. Exclusively making new games would be “very difficult” according to the developer.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Nier: Automata, and Scalebound are all currently in development at the studio.
You can check out a recent trailer for Star Fox Zero here.
