Keiji Inafune quits Capcom

By Robert Purchese Published 29 October, 2010

Jun Takeuchi will step up.

Keiji Inafune has decided to quit Capcom at the end of the month. He's been with the company for 23 years.

The head of R&D management group, consumer games R&D division and contents management division rued having "nowhere higher to go" on his blog (translated by Kotaku).

Inafune added: "I'm leaving Capcom with the intention of starting my life over." He's not taking a break but pursuing new challenges from the off. What they are, and who they'll be for, is unknown.

As of 1st November, Jun Takeuchi will take on the added responsibility of corporate officer as well as his existing deputy head of consumer games and R&D Division, and general manager of R&D production.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Capcom's taking Inafune's depature as an opportunity to shuffle a few key staff around. Katsuhiko Ichii will become head of development organisation, and a new development management team will be headed by Nobuyuki Matsushima, Jun Takeuchi, Taichiro Genbun, Hiroyuki Kobayashi and hutaro Kobayashi.

Keiji Inafune's career at Capcom was long and illustrious. He's best known for establishing Mega Man, but has also helped bring Resident Evil, Onimusha, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Street Fighter IV and many more games to fruition.

Inafune was charged by Capcom an April to oversee all Western-developed games to ensure they adhered to the publisher's style. His swansong will be Dead Rising 2, which was released at the end of September.

Inafune has also been known to speak his mind. Most recently, he's been a strong naysayer of Japanese game development which, he believes, is "five years behind" the West.

Eurogamer's last interview with Keiji Inafune at Capcom was at the start of September on the topic of Dead Rising 2. We soon veered off that, though.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (27) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Golgo #1 2 years ago

    Join Platinum, go on...you know you want to...

  • StolenGlory #2 2 years ago

    "Join Tango @ Zenimax.. go on.. you know you want to."

    There. All fixed for you.

    Can’t say I blame him tbh. Pretty much every single thing he has said about the state of the Japanese games industry has been spot-fucking-on.

    The only remaining piece of the puzzle was why he was still gainfully employed at Capcom.

    Best of luck to you son.

    Edited by StolenGlory at 29/10/10 @ 12:40

  • McBradders #3 2 years ago

    RIP Capcom, you had a good run :(

  • rotmm #4 2 years ago

    The rumour out there is that he's already got an agreement with Microsoft, where he will create a new company that will be wholly owned by MS, but will have freedom to follow new IP.

  • richarddavies #5 2 years ago

    I heard he's quit to become a pirate. Sailing the seven seas with a parrot on his shoulder and the wind in his hair. AHAAAARRRGH

  • sonicyoda #6 2 years ago

    Hope he gets work soon. That man knew his stuff. The EG interview with him about the Japanese games industry was really insightful.

  • GAmbrose #7 2 years ago

    @richarddavies - Got a genuine laugh out of me there (I hate typing 'lol')
    Edited by GAmbrose at 29/10/10 @ 13:00

  • TheApologist #8 2 years ago

    @rotmm

    Would be a shame - I'd rather see him at a multiplatform publisher (like Zenimax!)

  • rotmm #9 2 years ago

    @TheApologist,

    Don't worry, I made it up ;)

    Oh, and anywhere but Zenimax. Sounds like a new kind of panty-liner. :/

  • retr0gamer #10 2 years ago

    It was only a matter of time. I'd say he got fired, there's no way any japanese company would let him away with the amount of negative stuff he was saying about Capcom and japanese gaming. Pity they wouldn't listen because he was right.

  • ChthonicEcho #11 2 years ago

    Perhaps Capcom will finally start making good games, for a change.

  • Feanor #12 2 years ago

    Super Street Fighter 4 says hi.

  • rivuzu #13 2 years ago

    Free to persue such adventures as performing some form of Dragonball fusion with Shinji Mikami, and resurrecting the Japanese gaming industry!

    Edit: Fucking typos.
    Edited by rivuzu at 29/10/10 @ 13:33

  • ChthonicEcho #14 2 years ago

    So do Lost Planet 2, the new Devil May Cry, the latest Bionic Commando, Resident Evil 5... Keiji Inafune was poisoning Capcom with his skewed views on what today's Western gaming community wants.

  • StolenGlory #15 2 years ago

    "Perhaps Capcom will finally start making good games, for a change."

    They do and they have.

  • Machetazo #16 2 years ago

    I really hope Keiji doesn't go to Zenimax. I'd far prefer the alternative rumour that he's already got a go, from Microsoft to head up his own studio, working on new IP, but owned by them, to be true. For both parties' sakes. Zenimax are awful, BethSoft hasn't made anything worthwhile, since they finished FO3 (to avoid controversy, I enjoyed that game enough, but it wasn't a shade on Morrowind, even bug-riddled as that was.)

    I think he'd be better off with Microsoft, and the "new IP" bit of the suggestion probably staves off any risk of ending up like a Kinect grinder, well enough.

  • bad09 #17 2 years ago

    "Super Street Fighter 4 says hi."

    Not on PC it don't :(

  • ouchio #18 2 years ago

    The rot at the heart of Capcom has been cut out at last! Dont let the door hit your arse on the way out Inefune!

  • Razorus #19 2 years ago

    Wow, didn't expect that tbh. He's a legend of game development and I think we're all grateful to his many contributions to the industry, and I'm thankful for the memories of his amazing games. Thank you Inafune-san, and good luck!

  • Monkey_Puncher #20 2 years ago

    Hope this doesn't mean a change of direction for future Dead Rising games :(

  • Bigmac1910 #21 2 years ago

    I had a feeling something was up when he said he hated his position, and I think he was fired, with the option of quitting.

    Anyway, this is really good news, maybe Capcom can go back and do some really good japanese style games, instead of the current "games need to be westernised" stupidity.

  • Incarta #22 2 years ago

    Did he jump? Or was he pushed?

  • DrStrangelove #23 2 years ago

    I guess he didn't make a lot of friends in the Japanese gaming industry, even at Capcom, with his remarks. The Japanese really, really don't appreciate criticism. They strive for perfection and don't like flaws being pointed out. What might be a minor shortcoming for a westerner possibly means a painful disgrace for a Japanese.

    Could be the resistance against him was growing, could also be that he just got too frustrated with the stagnation. I wish him all the best for the future.

  • dagas #24 2 years ago

    I heard he's now going under the name Dr. Wily and is making robots.

  • Sevens #25 2 years ago

    Good(bye).


    "Keiji Inafune's career at Capcom was long and illustrious. He's best known for establishing Mega Man, but has also helped bring Resident Evil, Onimusha, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Street Fighter IV and many more games to fruition."

    Yeah, bringing DMC, RE and Onimsuha into being Westernized games that have lost their respective original identities. Small chance that Capcom will revise their ill-advised and unfortunate course of Westernization (which they've been furthering for years now) and get back to making good - well better - (Japanese) games.
    Possibly Dante - whose design was dominated by K. Inafune ("Inafune himself has been intimately involved for more than a year literally on every design decision, including character and direction, that's ever been done on the project" - http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1... will undergo changes, as well. But that's also relatively unlikely.

    More in-depth information on adriasang.com.]http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/10...


    P.S.:

    "I guess he didn't make a lot of friends in the Japanese gaming industry, even at Capcom, with his remarks. The Japanese really, really don't appreciate criticism. They strive for perfection and don't like flaws being pointed out. What might be a minor shortcoming for a westerner possibly means a painful disgrace for a Japanese.

    Could be the resistance against him was growing, could also be that he just got too frustrated with the stagnation."

    Yeah, they probably didn't appreciate his generalizing, unproductive remarks of "the entire Japanese industry sucks (except me, Keiji Inafune)", which are largely not in line with reality. Those silly Japanese. Not to mention that his strategy of Westernization wasn't overly effective in terms of profits, either -- luckily. "Stagnation" - lol. Call it perceived, alleged stagnation.
    Edited by Sevens at 29/10/10 @ 21:13

  • uiruki #26 2 years ago

    Damn, no more comedy stories and pictures on the japanese game blogs.

    Wonder if he can somehow blame Shinji Mikami for this, too.

  • bluetoothion #27 2 years ago

    There is a saying not to bite the hand that feeds you......and he tried the whole japland to bite him.

    they quitted him probably...

    And we will finally get to find out if he was to blame if most sequels sucked.