Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon's Dogma 2 director Hideaki Itsuno explains his departure from Capcom

Hideaki Itsuno decided to leave Capcom after three decades, where he spearheaded franchises like Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma. Itsuno left the company last year, after the release of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

In an interview with VGC, Itsuno further explained why he left Capcom, primarily attributing his departure to his advancing age. Itsuno is 55 years old and views this factor as a “last chance” to create an entirely original AAA title instead of contributing to already established franchises.

Considering the fact that Capcom is currently focusing on refreshing IPs like Resident Evil and Street Fighter, this left little room for Itsuno to work on new ideas, despite the company’s impressive releases for the past decade.

Itsuno wanted a fresh start or a fresh challenge because he felt that he had already achieved his vision with Devil May Cry 5’s release in 2019, followed by Dragon’s Dogma 2’s success in 2024. Itsuno commented, “With Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon’s Dogma 2, I already did what I wanted to make.” 

Itsuno expressed that if he stayed at Capcom any longer, he’d continue working on another Devil May Cry installment without even realizing it. Though he did express interest in working on future sequels, it lacked the personal satisfaction of working on building something new. 

Hideaki Itsuno has now moved on to Tencent’s Lightspeed Studios as a lead, where he’s assembled a team of developers to create a cross-platform AAA game. Lightspeed Studios recently expanded by opening a second office in Osaka, which is Capcom’s hometown.

The studio consists of 40 employees, one-third of whom previously worked at Capcom, including Devil May Cry writer Toshihiro Nakagawa, who has worked with Itsuno since Devil May Cry 2. Further joining the team is character designer Daigo Ikeno, who worked on Devil May Cry and Street Fighter, including veteran illustrator legend Bengus from Capcom.

Hideaki Itsuno is also going for a cautious approach to developing his new AAA game, making sure that the budget doesn't inflate and deadlines are met. Itsuno stated that he was inspired by recent outliers like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, contrary to the Souls-like hybrids the gaming industry has been churning out for the past year or so.

The director has expressed the desire to create an original experience, one that doesn’t mimic the blueprint for any existing blockbuster video game. Whether that shapes up as a direct competitor to future titles from the Devil May Cry franchise remains to be seen, however.