Resident Evil 2director Hideki Kamiya has a lot of history with Capcom, butResident Evilisn’t among the Capcom properties he’d like to work on in the future. After directingRE2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, andOkamifor Capcom (and its Clover Studio subsidiary), Kamiya left to co-found PlatinumGames, where he createdBayonettaandThe Wonderful 101. In 2024, he moved on yet again, creating a new studio called Clovers Inc. and startingdevelopment on anOkamisequel.
In the new environment of Clovers Inc. (which bears an obvious resemblance to Clover Studio’s name), Kamiya returning to some other Capcom properties may no longer be off the table. Capcom is publishing theOkamisequel, so the publisher seems open to letting him carry the torch at his own studio.Something likeResident Evilmight be a long shotregardless, but at least one of the franchises he’d like to work on again seems like it could be roughly as viable asOkami.
Hideki Kamiya Would Prefer Dino Crisis To Resident Evil
Capcom’s Other Survival Horror Classic
Kamiya established his lack of interest in returning toResident Evilin an interview withMinnMaxon YouTube,responding to a query about wanting to direct anotherREgame with a simple “Nah.“It’s a rapid-fire interview, so the lack of elaboration isn’t out of place, but it’s still an unusually brief answer. He may simply prefer the more playful and energetic style of most games he’s made since, or it might be a result of the difficult time he had withResident Evil 2, which he mentions in the same interview.
Either way,Kamiya is more open toDino CrisisthanResident Evil, saying he’d “love to give it a shot” when asked about Capcom’s other survival horror classic. Taking onDino Crisisin 2025or beyond might come with a little more freedom thanResident Evil, as the series has lain dormant for decades rather than continuing to develop its story and lore. The franchise’s return would certainly be a holy grail for many fans, and having the director ofRE2behind the wheel could be one of the more promising possibilities.
Kamiya Wants To Return To His Personal Capcom Hits
Devil May Cry & Viewtiful Joe Have Iconic Legacies
Aside fromResident Evil, Kamiya seems generally interested in revisiting his Capcom classics, as indicated by the upcomingOkamigame. In the MinnMax interview, he also states thathe’s “already got the idea” for aViewtiful Joe 3, and he recently commented on the idea ofremakingDevil May Cryin aHideki Kamiya Channelvideo on YouTube, as reported byGamesRadar.Reading a comment from a fan interested in a remake, Kamiya remarks “of course I’d love to do that” before elaborating on the dated game design elements that he could remake from the ground-up.
At the end of his video,Kamiya requests that Capcom leave aDevil May Cryremake and a newViewtiful Joegame for him to handle, a far cry from his curt disinterest in revisitingResident Evil. The odds of either possibility coming to fruition might depend on the success of Kamiya’s newOkamigame, and considering the subsequent turnaround time for development, it isn’t likely that fans would be seeing either particularly soon.
Of the options,Capcom putting Kamiya in charge of aDevil May Cryremake seems less likely to me, at least while he’s not directly employed by the studio. Although its his creation, the series has long since passed out of his hands, and it remains a major centerpiece of Capcom’s game library.Viewtiful Joe, on the other hand, is still associated much more with Kamiya as a creator than it is with Capcom as a whole. If Capcom does ever agree to a new game in the cult classic franchise, it seems likely that Kamiya would be involved.
Kamiya didn’t directViewtiful Joe 2, but he did write the game’s story scenario.
At any rate, I’m glad that Kamiya has managed to get a newOkamiproject going, which is more than I would have expected a few years ago. Kamiya’s penchant for fluid, stylized action is still something that few in the industry have managed to rival, and I might just agree with him that his talents could be better spent on Capcom projects that aren’t anotherResident Evilgame.
