Resident Evil 2 director Hideki Kamiya has a lot of history with Capcom, but Resident Evil isn’t among the Capcom properties he’d like to work on in the future. After directing RE2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, and Okami for Capcom (and its Clover Studio subsidiary), Kamiya left to co-found PlatinumGames, where he created Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101. In 2024, he moved on yet again, creating a new studio called Clovers Inc. and starting development on an Okami sequel.
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 the Okami sequel, so the publisher seems open to letting him carry the torch at his own studio. Something like Resident Evil might be a long shot regardless, but at least one of the franchises he’d like to work on again seems like it could be roughly as viable as Okami.
Hideki Kamiya Would Prefer Dino Crisis To Resident Evil
Capcom’s Other Survival Horror Classic
Kamiya established his lack of interest in returning to Resident Evil in an interview with MinnMax on YouTube, responding to a query about wanting to direct another RE game 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 with Resident Evil 2, which he mentions in the same interview.
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Either way, Kamiya is more open to Dino Crisis than Resident Evil, saying he’d “love to give it a shot” when asked about Capcom’s other survival horror classic. Taking on Dino Crisis in 2025 or beyond might come with a little more freedom than Resident 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 of RE2 behind the wheel could be one of the more promising possibilities.
Devil May Cry & Viewtiful Joe Have Iconic Legacies
Aside from Resident Evil, Kamiya seems generally interested in revisiting his Capcom classics, as indicated by the upcoming Okami game. In the MinnMax interview, he also states that he’s “already got the idea” for a Viewtiful Joe 3, and he recently commented on the idea of remaking Devil May Cry in a Hideki Kamiya Channel video on YouTube, as reported by GamesRadar. 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.
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At the end of his video, Kamiya requests that Capcom leave a Devil May Cry remake and a new Viewtiful Joe game for him to handle, a far cry from his curt disinterest in revisiting Resident Evil. The odds of either possibility coming to fruition might depend on the success of Kamiya’s new Okami game, 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 a Devil May Cry remake 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 direct Viewtiful Joe 2, but he did write the game’s story scenario.
At any rate, I’m glad that Kamiya has managed to get a new Okami project 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 another Resident Evil game.
Sources: MinnMax/YouTube, Hideki Kamiya Channel/YouTube, GamesRadar
Resident Evil 2
- Released
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January 21, 1998
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Violence
- Engine
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RE Engine
